The Delhi police filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in which it said that no hate speech was delivered during the ‘Dharma Sansad’ event held on December 19, 2021, in Delhi. The Dharma Sansad, held at Ved Niketan Dham in Haridwar from December 17-20 was organised by Yati Narasimhanand Giri of the Juna Akhada. As per a petition filed against the event, speeches were made with the objective of declaring ‘war’ against a significant section of Indian citizens.
Now, based on an in-depth investigation of the video and other material evidence, the Delhi police told the court that the speech was about empowering one’s religion and preparing for existential threats, and there was no incitement against Muslims.
None of the words spoken during the event described overtly or explicitly Indian Muslims as usurpers of territory and nothing was said which could create an environment of paranoia against any religion: Delhi Police tells Supreme Court on Hindu Yuva Vahini event held in Dec 2021 pic.twitter.com/E12dPRfjac
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) April 14, 2022
“In-depth investigation of the video and other material found that no hate speech was given against any community. Therefore, after investigation and evaluation of the purported video clip, it was concluded that the alleged speech contained no hate speech against a particular community,” the Delhi Police told the apex Court.
In her affidavit, Southeast Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police Isha Pandey stated that two people, SQR Ilyas and Faisal Ahmed, had filed a complaint of hate speech. She said that petitioners had claimed that the hate speech had instigated the sentiments of the people. This caused panic in the area, said Isha Pandey.
“None of the words spoken during the event described overtly or explicitly Indian Muslims as usurpers of territory and nothing was said which could create an environment of paranoia against any religion”, the police told the apex court.
The Delhi police told the court the petitioners approached the Court without first approaching the police, and as such, they have no jurisdiction to approach the Supreme Court, said the Delhi police. It added that as such if such practices are allowed, it will open the floodgates of litigation. “Such a practice must be deprecated,” said the police.
The police also condemned the petitioners for accusing them of being in cahoots with the accused. “The allegations made by the petitioners against the police authorities that police authorities are hand in glove with perpetrators of communal hate are baseless and imaginary. The case is based on videotape evidence. There is hardly any scope on the part of investigation agencies to tamper with the evidence or hamper the investigation in any manner,” it said.
After taking cognizance of the matter, the police launched an extensive investigation and discovered that there was no reference to any particular community in the video clip of the ‘Dharma Sansad’ event.
Therefore, following a thorough search, investigation, and evaluation of the alleged video clip, the police concluded that the alleged speech did not contain hate speech directed at any specific community. As a result, the police concluded their investigation and closed all the complaints files.
It may be recalled that in January this year a 5-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) had been constituted by the Uttarakhand govt to probe the matter of the Dharma Sansad hate speech case in Haridwar.
A day after speeches of leaders like Yati Narsinghanand and other Hindu leaders went viral, an FIR was filed in Uttarakhand over the speeches that called upon Hindus to collect arms. The speeches were deemed provocative and social media was rife with Leftists and Islamists claiming that the speeches called for a Muslim genocide.
Subsequent to the event, Yati Narsinghanand was arrested by Uttarakhand police on January 16, 2022, and released a month later in February. Wasim Rizvi alias Jitendra Tyagi was also arrested in connection with the Haridwar ‘Dharma Sansad’ hate speech case on January 13, 2022. It is pertinent to note that former Shia Waqf Board chief Wasim Rizvi had reverted to Hinduism by renouncing Islam in December last year.
