New Delhi: It’s 12 pm Saturday. Hundreds have gathered around a stage in the noon heat. Drone cameras circle overhead and some men go around distributing food and water to those gathered.
On stage, a man in saffron robes calls for “Hindus to unite”. Behind him is a poster bearing the words “Hindu Jagao, Hindu Bachao, Hindu Sambhalo” (Awaken Hindus, Make Hindus Aware and Hindus Beware).
“Is Bharat a Hindu Rashtra,” asks the man in saffron robes in Hindi.
“Haan (Yes),” chants back the crowd in sync.
“Ek minute ke liye police hatao, toh batate hain kya kar sakte hain (Remove the cops for a minute, we’ll show you what we can do),” declares the speaker, a man who identifies himself as Yogi Umesh Puri Maharaj, as several policemen from the Delhi Police and the Central Reserved Police Force stand about.
The gathering he’s addressing is at Shadipur in the heart of Delhi.
Called the ‘Aakrosh Mahapanchayat’, the event, organised by Hindu organisations Sarv Samaj Jagran Samiti, Vishva Hindu Parishad, and the Bajrang Dal is allegedly in response to last month’s killing of a youth in Delhi.
On 16 October, 27-year-old Nitesh, a resident of Delhi’s Shadipur and a Bajrang Dal worker, was allegedly killed in a brawl with three men in Central Delhi’s Ranjit Nagar.
Police have denied any communal angle to the incident, but leaders at Saturday’s mahapanchayat continue to allege there’s a “well-planned conspiracy” behind the killing.
Those who killed Nitesh “want to make India an Islamic country. And who is working for that? Amanatullah Khan is working for that,” the speaker alleged, referring to Aam Aadmi Party’s Okhla Member of Legislative Assembly.
Nitesh’s mother was one of several attendees at Saturday’s event.
The event comes less than a year after hate speeches at a dharam sansad in Haridwar and another event organised by the Hindu Yuva Vahini in Delhi sparked outrage.
Last month, the Supreme Court directed state governments and police to take suo motu action against hate speech makers without waiting for an official complaint.
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‘Hindu Rashtra’ and the ‘conspiracy’
On Saturday, Umesh Puri claimed that “in the name of love jihad, Muslims trap young girls”.
“Muslims are the safest in India. Unfortunately, Hindus aren’t,” Umesh alleged at the event.
Among the subjects discussed at the event were the “rising Muslim population”, “Population Bill”, and the “Uniform Civil Code”.
Umesh continued his attacks on the Aam Aadmi Party amid the frequent chants of “Jai Shree Ram”.
He asked: “Is Delhi chief minister, (acting as) a chief minister or an agent of Muslims?”
“Most importantly, in the Centre, we need to keep Modi ji’s government. He’s a good person. [He took decisions like building] the Ram Mandir, removing Article 370, [building] the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. If we want our dreams fulfilled, we need to get a Hindutvawadi sarkar (Hindutva government). We are against anti-Hindu government.”
Chaudhary Bhupen Singh, head of Palam 360 Khap and another speaker at the event, promised to “avenge Nilesh’s death”.
“We want our voice to reach the Indian government. Now we don’t need to tolerate these topiwalas,” he claimed, referring to Muslims.
Satish Makhija, a local leader of the RSS and another speaker at the event, called for a “Population Bill” and “the Uniform Civil Code”, adding that “illegal migration, like [that of] Rohingyas, is also a concern”.
“[From] the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean, all are Hindus. Hamara samaj ek hai. desh ek hai. Ye hindu rashtra hai (Ours is one society, one country. This is a Hindu nation),” he claimed.
“Ninety-five per cent of Pasmanda Muslims are converted. They were misled and turned Muslims,” he alleged.
“Pasmanda Muslims” is a word that describes the depressed classes among Muslims. It includes, but is not limited to, Dalits who converted to Islam.
The Population Control Bill, which has been for long a demand of several BJP leaders, aims at disincentivising couples from having more than two children.
While Hindu organisations claim that the Bill will help control Muslim population growth, data from National Family Health Survey has found there’s been a decline in Muslim population growth to 24.6 per cent between 2001 and 2011 from 29.52 per cent between 1991 and 2001.
Nitesh’s mother was among those who spoke at the event.
“Let no mother cry like me,” she said.
Attacks on Delhi Police
Even as the Delhi Police and CRPF stood about, speakers openly lambasted them.
“Delhi Police tried to scare those who were coming here. Don’t try to scare us,” Surendra Gupta, a local leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, alleged at the event.
“The country’s blind courts also need to see what is happening,” the leader claimed. “If you try to stop us, the next mahapanchayat will be at Delhi Police headquarters,” he warned, adding that the upcoming Delhi municipal elections will be “Hinduon ka chunao (elections of Hindus)”.
Udai Singh, an organiser of the event, called for disenfranchising Muslims.
“The Partition happened (in 1947). One brother’s there, the other’s here. In its true sense, they (Muslims) should not even have the right to vote,” he claimed, adding, “An even bigger mahapanchayat will be held on 6 December (if nothing’s done)”.
Incidentally, 6 December marks the 30th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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