New Delhi: Communal, inflammatory slogans that called for violence against Muslims were raised at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Sunday, at a rally that had several leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in attendance.
“Jab Mulle kaate jaayenge, Ram Ram Chillaayenge” (When ‘Mulle’—a derogatory word used for Muslims—would be chopped off, they would cry Ram Ram) and “Hindustan Mein Rehna Hoga, Jai Shri Ram Kehna Hoga (If one must remain in India, they should say ‘Jai Shri Ram’) were among the slangs raised by the mob that participated in the rally.
“Hindu groups always protest against Muslims which shows their cowardice. They stay within constitutional and legal limits. This is possible because Hindus are not capable of committing genocide,” said one flyer titled “Islam Ka Vinaash” (Annihilation of Isam) making an open call for violence.
Claiming that Islam cannot be dealt with raising hue and cry, it asks Hindus to awaken and “resort to terrorism to fight terrorism”. Children, not over 10-year-old, were holding the flyers.
Jantar Mantar, located in Sansad Marg, lies in close proximity to the Indian Parliament. It is a popular site for protests by the parties. The rally on Sunday, called ‘Bharat Jodo’ was called by Supreme Court lawyer and former Delhi BJP spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay. It was called to demand an end to “colonial-era laws” by setting up a uniform civil code in the country.
Several hundreds of people, including BJP leader Gajendra Chauhan, were in attendance, reports said. The organizers had not taken permission for the event, the Delhi Police told The Indian Express. Evidently, COVID-19 norms are also flouted at the event.
“There was a protest against colonial laws used to suppress Indians by the British, which still exist. We were there to protest against those laws and for a Uniform Civil Code because our demand was that there should be one rule in one country,” The Indian Express quoted Shipra Srivastava, media in-charge of Bharat Jodo Movement, as saying.
“There was no such (inflammatory) slogan in my knowledge… there were 5,000 people and if five-six people in some corner would be shouting such slogans, then we disassociate ourselves from them,” she added.
On Monday, the Delhi Police filed an FIR against the unidentified persons at Connaught Place police station in relation to the inflammatory slogans against Muslims.