Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manavjeet Singh Dhillon, who came under fire on Thursday for equating the PFI to the RSS, claimed on Friday that his comments had been ‘wrongly interpreted’. “It is impossible to compare one organization to another. The meaning of my comment was misinterpreted, which is incorrect,” Dhillon said.
The senior police officer’s response came just one day after the Bihar Police issued him a show-cause notice for comparing the RSS to the PFI. The show-cause notice was issued by Jitendra Singh Gangwar, the ADGP for law and order, and SSP Dhillon was given 48 hours to respond. The ADGP had particularly asked Dhillon to explain why he had linked the RSS to the PFI, which caused a commotion.
Further, a day after the BJP leaders harshly criticized the comparison, Dhillon issued a statement on July 15 and said that his earlier statement was based on documents and interrogation of persons arrested from Phulwasharif. “A journalist asked me during the press briefing about the modus operandi of persons arrested from Phulwasharif. In the documents procured from the location and interrogation reports in writing as well as recording the modus operandi was mentioned similar to an organization, using its name”, he said.
“The documents and interrogation reports have even been submitted with the court as well. There was no motive to compare the two organizations. It was selective interpretation”, he was quoted. Dhillon yesterday sparked outrage by comparing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Shakha to a Popular Front of India (PFI) training camp where anti-India activities were being planned. “..Their modus operandi was to act like an RSS Shakha where lathi training is given…they would call them for physical training but also brainwash & radicalize them”, he had said on July 14 while giving details about the anti-India activities of the accused.
#WATCH | “They used to mobilize youth from mosques & madrasas towards radicalization. Their modus operandi was to act like an RSS Shakha where lathi training is given…they would call them for physical training but also brainwash & radicalize them,” says SSP Patna, Manavjit Singh pic.twitter.com/F6U1wZOwC1
— ANI (@ANI) July 14, 2022
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) had endorsed the SSP, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had condemned Dhillon’s remarks, seeking an apology or his resignation from the Indian Police Service (IPS). The RJD has backed Dhillon’s statement, saying that the senior superintendent of police in Patna was correct regarding Sangh’s tactic of spreading misinformation and hate in the garb of physical training and rioting.
It is important to note that while RSS trains its members to use a stick, PFI, in its recent vision document, has spoken about arms training to teach “coward Hindus” a lesson, spoken about the murder of Hindus and Hindu leaders, and about establishing an Islamic government in India by 2047. Also, one of the documents named ‘India vision 2047’ that was recovered by the Bihar Police from the accused on July 11 talks about ‘subjugating coward majority community and bringing back the glory.
According to the Police, the document is very objectionable and talks about the ‘rule of Islam in India’. “PFI sure that even if 10% of whole Muslim population gather behind it, PFI will conquer frightened majority group and restore the glory,” Kumar continued, quoting an excerpt from an eight-page lengthy paper titled ‘India Vision 2047’.
Reports mention that so far, the Police have arrested five Islamists named Md Jalaluddin, Athar Parvez, Marguv Ahmad Danish alias Tahir, Arman Malik, and Shamim Malik for planning anti-India activities in Patna. The case has however been registered against 26 people. The police have launched a massive manhunt to nab the accused. The investigations are underway.
