New Delhi: The Delhi Police Monday registered an FIR against unknown persons a day after anti-Muslim slogans were allegedly raised at Jantar Mantar during a protest against ‘colonial era laws’.
“FIR has been registered under relevant sections of law. The investigation is in progress,” Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, Deepak Yadav said in a press statement.
The slogans were allegedly raised during a march titled ‘Colonial Laws & Make Uniform Laws’ at Jantar Mantar Sunday. According to the police, the organisers of the event didn’t have permission to carry out the rally.
The FIR has been filed in the Connaught Place Police Station under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code apart from section 51 of Disaster Management Act for violation of Covid-19 guidelines.
Videos of the event were widely shared on social media in which individuals can purportedly be heard making inflammatory remarks against Muslims. They sparked outrage on Twitter.
“We are identifying the people who raised these slogans. We have taken all records of videos,” a senior police officer told ThePrint.
The march was organised by Supreme Court lawyer and former state BJP spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay under the banner of ‘Bharat Jodo (Unite) Movement’. BJP leader Gajendra Chauhan was also present at the event that demanded implementation of a Uniform Civil Code for all.
प्रधानमंत्री जी से निवेदन है कि अंग्रेजी कानून समाप्त करें और समान शिक्षा समान चिकित्सा समान कर संहिता समान दंड संहिता समान श्रम संहिता समान पुलिस संहिता समान न्यायिक संहिता समान नागरिक संहिता समान धर्मस्थल संहिता समान जनसंख्या संहिता लागू करें🙏 @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/2yBChEj608
— Ashwini Upadhyay (@AshwiniUpadhyay) August 9, 2021
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‘Permission was denied’
The senior officer quoted above said that permission for the event had been denied. “However, later on, upon information that Upadhyay might take up an indoor venue, we made arrangements … hundreds of people turned up, higher than we anticipated.”
“We are identifying the ones that raised the slogans on the basis of videos available on social media and with the police. Strict action will be taken against the perpetrators,” the officer added.
Upadhyay, though, denied involvement or knowledge of the anti-Muslim sloganeering at the event.
“The rally was from 10am to 12pm. Whereas the sloganeering happened around 5pm. Our rally was outside the Park hotel [in central Delhi] but the slogans were given near Parliament house Police Station. I do not know who they were,” he told Bar & Bench.
Purported videos of the event showed some individuals calling for the killing of Muslims, and raising ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogans.
The slogan “Hindustan mein rehna hoga toh ‘Jai Shree Ram’ kehna hoga (If you want to live in Hindustan, you must say ‘Jai Shree Ram’),” could be heard in one of the videos, purportedly of the event. In another similar video, people can be heard saying, “Muslims will be slaughtered, they will shout ‘Jai Shree Ram’.”
(Edited by Manasa Mohan)
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