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India police probe Hindu leaders' anti-Muslim hate speech

December 24, 2021

Videos in which Hindu religious leaders are calling for violence and ethnic cleansing of Muslims in India are being investigated by police.

https://p.dw.com/p/44o59
In this picture from March 2021, supporters of Hindu organizations celebrate a new sign at the Dasna Devi temple in India say Muslims are banned from entering
There were several attacks on Muslims in India this year including one in March where a boy was thrashed for drinking water at a Hindu temple in GhaziabadImage: Hindustan Times/imago images

Police in northern India on Friday said they were investigating an event where Hindu religious leaders called for mass killings of Muslims in the country.

Videos of the religious gathering in the northern city of Haridwar in Uttarakhand went viral earlier in the week.

"We have taken note of the videos, which were going viral and spreading hatred through provocative speeches against a particular religion," the police chief of Uttarakhand, Ashok Kumar, said.

"We have also asked social media platforms to block the videos."

World Stories - Tensions between Muslims and Hindus in India

A link made to the Rohingya genocide 

One of the speakers at the event, which took place earlier this month, called on the crowd to be "ready to die or kill."

"Like Myanmar, the police, politicians, the army and every Hindu in India must pick up weapons and do this cleansing. There is no other option left," the man said.

Another delegate said Hindus should not be worried about being jailed for killing Muslims.

"Even if just a hundred of us become soldiers and kill 2 million of them, we will be victorious," the woman said.

The videos sparked widespread outrage.

Prominent Muslim lawmaker Asaduddin Owaisi wrote on Twitter that the videos were a "clear case of incitement to genocide."

Anti-Muslim rhetoric flourishing

Activists say the hate crimes against Muslims and Christians have increased since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.

At least one member of the BJP attended the gathering in Haridwar.

Neither the party nor the government has commented on the event yet.

"Not a peep, much less a condemnation, from the gov't. Sad truth is that this deafening silence isn't the least bit surprising," Michael Kugelman from the Wilson Center wrote on Twitter.

A criminal investigation for inciting hate underway

There have been no arrests, but police have vowed that "strict action will be taken against the guilty."

The case had been registered under a section of Indian law that prohibits promoting enmity among different groups on grounds of religion.

If found guilty an accused could face up to three years in prison.

lo/aw (AFP, dpe)