NEW DELHI, Jan 20: The chief judicial magistrate of Haridwar on Thursday denied bail to Juna Akhara Mahamandleshwar Yati Narsinghanand who was arrested for making derogatory remarks on women of a particular community and delivered hate speech at a “Dharma Sansad” held in Haridwar last month.
On January 15, the Haridwar Police had arrested Narsinghanand from Sarvanand Ghat where he was sitting on a hunger strike to protest against the arrest of Waseem Rizvi aka Jitendra Narayan Tyagi on January 13. Tyagi too was named in the hate speech case.
The arrest of Tyagi and Narsinghanand took place after the Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre, Delhi Police and the Uttarakhand government on Monday. The notice was over a PIL seeking probe into the alleged hate speech by participants at two separate events in Haridwar, organised by Yati Narsinghanand, and another in Delhi by Hindu Yuva Vahini where speakers allegedly called for the “genocide of members” of a community.
“We have faith in the judicial system, but what is happening is media trial. The way these were brought into media in a sponsored way, the judiciary is sometimes back down because of that. The way Uttarakhand Police is increasing number of cases (against Narsinghanand) it is condemnable. Why is this oppression only against Hindus and Hindu religious leaders? I am in pain but still trusts the judiciary. While the CJM court has rejected the bail applications, we will now move to the sessions court,” said Swami Anand Swaroop, Peethadheeshwar of the Shambhavi Dham.
In total, two FIRs have been registered in connection with the case. The first FIR was registered on December 23 on the complaint of one Gulbahar Khan at the Haridwar Kotwali police station under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups and acts prejudicial to harmony) and 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC. A total of five persons – Tyagi, Dharamdas Maharaj, Annapurna Maa, Yati Narsinghanand and Sagar Sindhuraj Maharaj – have been named in that FIR.
Another FIR was registered on January 2 on the complaint of a social worker Nadeem Ali for allegedly making hate speeches at the Haridwar event and continuing to do so in the days that followed. The FIR under sections 153A and 298 (uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) of the IPC named Tyagi and unidentified others. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has also been formed to investigate the hate speech case.
Earlier this month, another FIR was registered against Yati Narsinghanand on the complaint of one Ruchika that he made objectionable remark against women of a particular community. She alleged that in some social media posts, Narsinghanand had made derogatory remarks on women of a particular community on January 4.
(Manas Dasgupta)
