The Uttar Pradesh police arrested a Hindu man named Arpit Solanki on Thursday after he uploaded inflammatory videos on his social media App Instagram targeting Muslims living in India.
In a video that went viral on social media, Arpit Solanki, a resident of Ghaziabad, is seen wearing a saffron scarf and raising inflammatory slogans in a moving bus like ” Mullah Padhe Namaz Masjid mai ghar mai karee Halhala, Gyanvapi Masjid tood doh, Mullah bolega Jai Shri Ram and Tel lagao Dabur ka naam mita doh Babur ka (the founder of the Mughal Empire in India)”.
A group of men in the bus is seen repeating and chanting the words of Solanki loudly amid cheers. Some are seen filming the movement. Subsequently, Solanki uploaded the video on his Instagram account which he operates under the name “KattarSanatani.”
Pertinently, the Gyanvapi Mosque which has been the subject of a contentious legal dispute between Hindus and Muslims is located in Varanasi. Soon after the video went viral, it sparked widespread outrage and condemnation from various quarters, promoting the Ghaziabad police to arrest the man.
On Wednesday, July 3, the Uttar Pradesh Bareilly police arrested a man for allegedly sharing an offensive Facebook post that hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslim community.
According to the police press note, the accused identified as Yogendra Prakash, a resident of Baraur village had shared an offensive morphed photo on Facebook depicting a pig, which is considered a banned animal in Islam, placed on an image of Kaaba, the holy pilgrimage site for Muslims located in Saudi Arabia.
Over the past few years, hate speech targeting Muslims has become a concerning trend on various social media platforms in India. Many Hindutva right-wing Hindu outfit members or sympathizers use the platforms including X to spread propaganda, and misinforming against Muslims to suit their narrative and incite communal tensions.
A recent report released by the India Hate Lab (IHL), a Washington-based research organization in June, has revealed a staggering 62% documented incidents of anti-Muslim hate speech in the latter half of 2023, adding the Israel-Gaza war played a key role in the last three months.
Alarmingly, around 75% of these hate speech events took place in various states governed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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