"Bajrang Muni is a respected religious mahant in Sitapur with a large following," Additional Solicitor General SV Raju said during the hearing of a plea by Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair seeking bail in a complaint filed against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police in Sitapur for hurting religious sentiments. "When you call a religious leader hate-monger, it raises problems," Raju said in court.
Also Read: Supreme Court Grants Interim Bail to Mohammed Zubair, Bar on Tweeting
Uttar Pradesh Police filed a case against Zubair on the basis of a tweet where he termed Mahant Bajrang Muni, Yati Narsinghanand, and Swami Anand Swaroop as 'hate mongers' following their provocative hate speeches against Muslims.
The Supreme Court granted Zubair an interim bail of 5 days but he will continue to be in judicial custody in the ongoing case filed by the Delhi Police. In his defence, the co-founder of Alt News submitted before the Supreme Court that persons who made hate speech have been released on bail, whereas the person who exposed them is in jail.
ASG S V Raju, while justifying keeping Zubair in custody, said that insulting a respected mahant like Bajrang Muni does have the prospect of inviting violence since he has a large following.
Also Read: "Muslims Are Cancer": Witnessing A Hindu Rashtra Convention In Bengaluru
BOOM does a recap of all the vicious threats made by the three men through their public speeches in late 2021 and earlier this year.
What Muni said in Sitapur
In a hate speech made in UP's Sitapur in April this year, Muni, a religious leader, had issued rape threats against Muslim women. "Even if a single Hindu woman is harassed, I will pick your daughters and from your homes and rape them," he had said while addressing a gathering, which included police personnel as well, from his vehicle in Sitapur's Khairabad town on April 2. The crowd cheered as he issued threats. The video of the hate speech had gone viral following which an FIR was lodged.
Hours after the police case, Muni released another video where he apologised for his statement.
"To all the mothers and sisters, I would like to apologise. If my video, which is viral, has hurt them, please forgive me for it. All sisters and mothers are worth worshiping for me. I respect all women," he said in the video. He went on to say that the video was distorted and taken out of context and that Khairabad has just 20% Hindu population.
Muni was arrested a week after the hate speech and was released around two weeks later. "I have no guilt for what I said," he had said upon his release adding that he would go to jail a thousand times to 'safeguard' religion and women.
Yati Narsinghanand's Dharam Sansad
The other Hindu seer whom Zubair called a 'hate monger' in his tweet is Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, head of the powerful Dasna Devi temple in UP's Ghaziabad. In a religious conclave, called Dharam Sansad, held in Haridwar in December last year, Yati had given open calls for Muslim genocide in India.
The event had speakers like Annapurna Maa, Dharamdas Maharaj from Bihar, Anand Swaroop Maharaj, Sagar Sindhuraj Maharaj, Swami Premanand Maharaj, and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay. At the event, Narsinghanand had asked Hindus to have 'better weapons' to 'win the battle'. "Economic boycott won't work. Hindu groups need to update themselves. Swords look good on stage only. This battle will be won by those with better weapons," he had said. He asked the Hindus to have advanced weapons and a higher number of children to 'save themselves'.
Calling for violence against Muslims, Annapurna Maa had said, "If you want to finish them off, then kill them... We need 100 soldiers who can kill 20 lakh of them to win this."
Yati was arrested on January 16 and was released almost a month later in February. Out on bail on the condition that he could not participate in such events, Yati in April organised another religious conclave in UP's Una where calls for violence against Muslims were reiterated. In a gathering in Delhi's Burari in April, Yati had again given a similar hate speech.
Also Read: "Ready To Die Fighting For Hinduism": Who Said What At Una Dharm Sansad
Anand Swaroop's call to pick weapons for 'Hindu Rashtra'
In January this year, Hindu leader Anand Swaroop called for an economic and social boycott of Muslims. Swaroop, Varanasi-based outfit Shankaracharya Parishad, had said that people who read Quran (the religious book of Muslims) become 'beasts and are no longer humans'. "For those who wish to remain connected to India, they must give up the Quran and namaz. If we start boycotting Muslims socially and economically, they will embrace Hinduism," he had said. Swaroop, in the video, was heard asking Hindus to pick guns and swords to declare India a 'Hindu Rashtra'.