For more than a week, Muslim hardliners in various cities have been protesting against Dasna Devi Temple’s head priest Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati for his statements against Muhammad. Endless calls for the beheading of the priest have been made by several Muslim groups and even mainstream political parties for his alleged ‘blasphemy’.
Yesterday, the Kanpur unit of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) had put up incendiary ‘sar tan se juda’ posters with gory images, calling for the beheading of Narsinghanand Saraswati and Wasim Rizvi. Another despicable poster had a dog and a child urinating on Narsinghanand Saraswati. Similarly, videos surfaced where young Muslim children could be seen calling for the beheading of the priest on open streets.
Enraged by the Islamic fanatics openly calling for murder under religious and political sanction, Hindus from various corners of the country are now coming together in large numbers to voice their support for Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati.
Hindus organise processions in support of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati
In a video shared on Twitter, Hindus are seen carrying out a huge procession in support of the Hindu priest. Swami Yati’s supporters are seen crying a poster that reads: “We support the truth, we support Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati”. They raised slogans in support of the Hindu priest.
Hindus out in support to our beloved.. Dearest Yatiji
— Sanatani Thakur (@SanggitaT) April 12, 2021
Let’s stand for our yogi.. 💐💐
Nari Shakti in the lead.. #Yati_Narsinghanand_Saraswati pic.twitter.com/ZPpJoA0bfZ
Hindus demand ‘Z’ category security for the Hindu priest
Additionally, members of the Hindu outfits like the Shakti Dal, International Hindu Council and many Bajrang Dal activists gathered at the Collectorate campus in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh on Monday to protest against the violent threats being issued against Narsinghanand Saraswati.
According to a report by Hindi Daily Amar Ujala, the Hindu leaders handed over a memorandum to the UP Chief Minister demanding ‘Z’ category security for the Hindu priest whose life has been under threat ever since Muslims across the country have been calling for his beheading.
Speaking on this occasion, the National Senior Vice President of Hindu Shakti Dal, Puneet Hindu said that Swami Yeti Narasimhanand has been opposing issues like Love Jihad, Muslim fundamentalism and terrorism from time to time. For this reason, he has been on the hit list of the Islamic fundamentalists many times in the past too. Puneet said that since Yati Narasimhanand lives in Muslim-majority Dasna town there is a constant threat to his life, which is a matter of grave concern. The Hindu leader feared that if not stopped here, this episode might be a rerun of the Kamlesh Tiwari episode. He added that Hindus need to come out on streets to stand in solidarity with Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati.
In a separate incident, members of Hindu Sangharsh Samiti gathered in front of the secretariat in Haryana’s Yamunanagar demanding ‘Z’ category security for Narsinghanand Saraswati and Wasim Rizvi, the former chairman of the Shia Central Board of Waqf in Uttar Pradesh. According to a report by Jagran, the members of the Hindu outfit raised ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogans while holding counter-protest against mobs calling for beheading of Narsimhanand Saraswati.
This demonstration by the Hindus saw resentment from the people of the Muslim community, who also gathered and raised slogan against Dasna Devi Temple head priest in front of the Secretariat, forcing Yamunanagar police to intervene.
To avoid any untoward incident, added police force was immediately called for. While the Muslims were restricted in front of the Secretariat, the police convinced the Hindu outfit members to shift towards the Anaj Mandi gate, where they continued the protest.
In what culminated into a brawl, police barred both sides from using loudspeakers or mics while demonstrating. The Muslims, however, did not pay heed to the request and began using mics to raise slogans against the Hindu priest. This enraged the Hindus, who in turn asked the Muslims to stop using microphones and loudspeakers. This led to a confrontation between the members of both communities. The police, however, intervened and brought the situation under control.
Remarks by Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati on Islam
On April 1, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, head priest of Dasna Devi Temple in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, had spoken at an event held at the Press Club of India when he urged Hindus to be fearless in highlighting the characteristics of Prophet Muhammad.
Following Swami Yati’s remark, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan had last week called for the beheading of the Hindu priest through his verified Twitter account. Amanatullah Khan’s tweet calling for the beheading of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati was taken down by Twitter and subsequently, a first information report (FIR) was filed against Khan for fostering enmity and criminal intimidation by the Delhi police. Despite these actions, Amanatullah Khan’s post has put the Hindu priest’s life at a huge risk. Ever since, Khan’s viral tweet, thousands of Muslims have been advocating his call.
It must be remembered that Kamlesh Tiwari, the former Hindu Mahasabha leader was brutally murdered in 2019 in his own house by a group of radical Islamists for his 2015 statements criticising Muhammad. Back in 2015 and early 2016, lakhs of Muslims had taken to streets in several cities of India, openly calling for the public beheading and murder of Kamlesh Tiwari. The slogans calling for murder were actively encouraged by Islamic leaders, politicians and Imams.
In 2020, French schoolteacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by a Muslim man for sharing the Charlie Hebdo cartoons that had mocked Muhammad.
