Opinion | Delhi Police has taken a right step in arresting those spreading communal hate
There was good news on Tuesday when Delhi Police arrested six persons, including the organizer of the protest, Ashwini Upadhyay, on charges of communal sloganeering at Jantar Mantar on Sunday. Videos of pro-Hindutva activists shouting offensive slogans against Muslims caused tremendous outrage in the media. More suspects are likely to be arrested, Delhi police said. Upadhyay, a former BJP spokesperson and lawyer, was arrested from his home on Tuesday. The six persons were questioned for over six hours by police before they were placed under arrest.
Police have seized their mobile phones and are scanning video clips of the sloganeers. They are also scanning their media profiles because there were reports that some of them were chanting slogans live on Facebook. Police is now conducting raids to nab Pinki Chaudhary of Hindu Rakshak Dal and another activist Uttam Malik.
In my prime time show ‘Aaj Ki Baat’ on Monday night I had shown the video of these activists shouting hateful slogans and I had asked for immediate action against such persons on charge of inciting communal tension. The activists were shouting offensive slogans which cannot be shown to viewers. I am happy to note that Delhi Police took action because such incitement to communal hate must not be tolerated in a democracy.
Among those arrested apart from Upadhyay, are Preet Singh, Deepak Singh, Deepak Kumar, Vinod Sharma and Vineet Bajpai. Soon after news of their arrests spread, pro-Hindutva activists gathered outside Parliament Street police station and demanded their release. Deepak Singh runs an outfit called Hindu Force, and Vinod Sharma is the chief of Sudarshan Vahini. Those protesting outside the police station were supporters of these pro-Hindutva outfits. Police had to call in paramilitary force to stop these activists from forcibly entering the police station.
Delhi Police officials say they have arrested the six persons on the basis of concrete video evidences. I do not have an iota of doubt that those who claimed to be Hindutva activists and shouted slogans calling for death to Muslims, have nothing to do with Hindu society.
They are petty leaders trying to incite the feelings of both Hindus and Muslims, and thus gain a few minutes of fame in media. Hindutva does not propagate hate towards any religion. It calls for universal brotherhood through ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’ (the world is my family). Those who shouted hate slogans against Muslims not only committed a crime in the eyes of law, but also committed a sin against Hindu dharma.
I am confident that Delhi Police will bring out the truth after interrogating all these activists. Action must be taken against people who spread hate, whichever religion they belong to. We must draw a line somewhere and those spreading hate must be stopped. If we aspire to make India great, then fostering of brotherhood in our society is essential. We cannot progress unless we promote equality among people of different religions who live in India.
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India's Number One and the most followed Super Prime Time News Show 'Aaj Ki Baat – Rajat Sharma Ke Saath' was launched just before the 2014 General Elections. Since its inception, the show is redefining India's super-prime time and is numerically far ahead of its contemporaries.
