Amidst the outrage over the comments recently made by Saint Ramgiri Maharaj on Prophet Muhammad during a sermon in Nashik’s Sinnar region, the Islamist mobs are holding protests in various states. In what seems to be a Nupur Sharma redux, the Islamist protestors are demanding Sar tan se juda [beheading] punishment for Ramgiri Maharaj. Meanwhile, multiple FIRs have been lodged against the Hindu saint.
You kept quiet during Nupur Sharma times… don't be silent this time.
— Sameet Thakkar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@thakkar_sameet) August 17, 2024
Speak up !
Ramgiri Maharaj has just stated fact.#IsupportRamgiriMaharaj pic.twitter.com/LrvWDDxXLX
In one such protest, several Muslim men along with children are seen raising “Gustakh-e-Nabi ki ek Saza, Sar tan se juda [“There is only one punishment for being disrespectful to Nabi (Prophet Muhammad]”. The Islamists online are inciting their co-religionists against Ramgiri Maharaj and hurling derogatory slurs against Ramgiri Maharaj. One such Islamist called Ramgiri Maharaj “piss drinker”.
नबी की शान में गुस्ताख़ी बर्दाश्त नहीं की जाएगी।
— چاندنی 𓂆 (@chandnii__) August 18, 2024
#ArrestGangaGiriMaharaj pic.twitter.com/ImZOAsQjNR
A Muslim X user Alim alleged that “Kafir” [infidel] will help another Kafir and the only way to ‘punish’ Ramgiri Maharaj is “Sar tan se juda”. “Kanoon iska kuchh nhi krega ye saare Qafir-Qafir ka hi saath denge Iska ek hi rasta h gustakhe Nabi ki ek saza sar tan se juda sar tan se juda Allahu Akbar [sword emojis],” Alim posted in response to an inflammatory post against the Hindu sage.
Notably, a massive protest rally was taken out in Karnataka’s Kudachi. Other than Karnataka, protests were held in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara, Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha, Maharashtra’s Aurangabad and Mumbra and in Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh.
Aaj Kudachi, Karnataka main Gustakh ganga giri ke khilaf kadi si kadi karwai ho isliye Lakho ki tadad main loge ikhtha hoker Aitjaja kiya #OurProphetOurHonour #ArrestGangaGiriMaharaj pic.twitter.com/RTTBb5H8wh
— Mujaffar Makhan (@mujaffar_makhan) August 21, 2024
As reported earlier, on 22nd August, Madhya Pradesh police took strict action against Islamists who pelted stones and created a ruckus in Chhatarpur Kotwali police station on Wednesday afternoon while protesting against Ramgiri Maharaj. The police registered a case against 150 people involved in the ruckus after the orders were issued by CM Mohan Yadav. The FIR includes 50 named and 100 other people who pelted stones at the police station injuring two officers. MP CM Mohan Yadav took cognisance of the matter and directed the authorities to take stringent action against the unruly Islamists. Subsequently, accused Haji Shahzad Ali’s house in Mastan Sahab Colony of Chhatarpur city was demolished with the help of a bulldozer.
In Mumbra, the Muslim mob raised Sar tan se juda banners and inflammatory slogans against the Hindu saint.
Respected @NCPCR_, @ThaneCityPolice
— . (@jxh45) August 22, 2024
These are minor children in Mumbra, in CM Eknath Shinde's district Thane.
They're calling for behe@ding of Ramgiri Maharaj.@DGPMaharashtra, @MumbaiPolicepic.twitter.com/WQLhGa3XFw
Sar tan se juda: The Islamist way of silencing those quoting the uncomfortable truths from the ‘book’
This is not the first time that Islamists have unleashed the ‘Sar tan se juda’ terror against those making critical comments about Islam or Muslims. Last year, OpIndia reported how Islamists raised slogans of ‘sar tan se juda’ in Gir Somnath outside a police station, accusing Hindu rights activist Kajal Hindustani of giving an anti-Islamic speech during the Ram Navami procession. As reported back then, she talked about forced religious conversion where Hindu girls are lured into a relationship by Muslim men who usually hide their religious identity and eventually force them to convert their faith, demography changes in parts of India and several other issues.
Soon after, Islamists started posting video snippets, directing an Islamist mob against her, claiming that she was spreading hate and asking Hindus to pick up weapons against Muslims even as she only talked about self-defence against various Islamist threats.
In 2021, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan had called for the beheading of a Hindu priest through his verified Twitter account. Ever since lakhs of Muslims have called for the beheading of Dasna Devi Temple head priest Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati for his statements against Muhammad. Other than this, Muslim children were also seen raising Sar tan se juda slogans against the Hindu priest.
Back in 2015 and early 2016, lakhs of Muslims had taken to the streets in several cities of India, openly calling for the public beheading and murder of Kamlesh Tiwari. Muslims rioted in various states of the country and eventually, Tiwari was brutally killed in 2019 by two Muslim assailants Farid-ud-din Shaikh and Ashfak Shaikh, in his office-cum-residence in Lucknow. Kamlesh Tiwari was shot and had his throat slit in the most barbaric manner. There were multiple stab wounds on his body and his throat slit wide open with a sharp weapon.
In May 2022, after her remarks during a debate on Times Now, former spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party Nupur Sharma came under Islamists’ radar even as she quoted what is written in the Islamic text. During protests, Islamists raised ‘sar tan se juda‘ slogans. Alt News’ co-founder Mohammed Zubair played a vital role in instigating protests and dog-whistling Islamists against Sharma in India and abroad. As a result, the BJP removed her from the party. Islamists kill many Hindus, including Rajasthan’s Kanhaiyalal and Maharashtra’s Umesh Kohle, for supporting Nupur Sharma. To date, Sharma lives a restricted life with occasional public appearances while Taslim Ahmed Rehmani, whose statement against Bhagwan Shiv made her angry during the debate, is roaming free.
While these are a few major incidents, OpIndia has documented numerous incidents wherein Muslims raised Sar tan se juda slogans over imaginary ‘blasphemy’ and also for no reason whatsoever or rather to instil terror into the hearts of Hindus. An example of this was seen at Muharram this year when a Muslim mob raised Sar tan se juda slogans in Kanpur outside a Hanuman temple.
Why Sar tan se juda should be treated as a precursor to a terrorist act
“Gustakh-e-Rasool ki Ek hi saza, sar tan se Juda, sar tan se Juda”, this murderous slogan has claimed many lives in the name of alleged ‘blasphemy’ not only in India where there are no ‘blasphemy laws’ but also in our hostile neighbour Pakistan. Much like their brethren in India, Islamists in Pakistan also get riled up over anything they perceive as insulting to their faith.
In February this year, it was reported that a mob of Islamic fanatics, led by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan members, thought that the colourful Arabic text on the white dress a woman wore was Quranic verses, and therefore she committed blasphemy, which is punishable by death in Pakistan. The mob surrounded the victim woman and raised Sar tan se juda slogans, fortunately, the woman was saved from getting lynched. In another such incident, Pakistani Islamists created a ruckus over a QR code on a bottle assuming that Allah was scribed on it.
In the latest incident, Pakistani Islamists are leading Sar tan se juda protests against Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa for releasing an Ahmadiyya man who faced ‘blasphemy’ charges and saying that everyone has the right to profess their religion.
Notably, while the usage of Sar tan se juda to silence those opposed to Islamism transcends borders, the murderous slogan has its origins in Pakistan.
In 2011, the governor of the Punjab province of Pakistan, Salman Taseer was murdered by his own guard Mumtaz Qadri who disagreed with Taseer’s opposition to Pakistan’s blasphemy law. Khadim Hussain Rizvi, a Maulana in Pakistan at the time hailed Qadri for assassinating Taseer and declared him a ‘Ghazi’. He led a procession with thousands of people in attendance, who raised provocative slogans against the former governor of Punjab, Pakistan, and hailed Qadri as a hero.
The procession, organised by the radical Barelvi terror outfit Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), amplified the slogan among the masses of Pakistan in 2011 to shield Mumtaz Qadri. Two slogans were chiefly chanted during the procession. One was “Rasool Allah, Rasool Allah” and the other, “Gustakh-e-Rasool Ki Ek Hi Zaza, Sar Tan Se Juda, Sar Tan Se Juda.” Rizvi would ask the audience during the mass demonstrations, “Gustakh-e-Rasool ki Ek hi Saza?” The protestors would respond by chanting “Sar Tan Se Juda, Sar Tan Se Juda”. Qadri not only shot Taseer dead but later justified his crime as his ‘religious duty’.
This ‘Sar tan se juda’ slogan and the street veto of Islamists pose a direct threat to the Hindu and other non-Muslim communities and also challenge the authority of India’s justice system. This slogan should be seen as a precursor to a terror attack and a direct incitement to violence. Across the world, blasphemy attacks, such as the killing of Samuel Paty in France, are considered terror attacks and treated with utmost seriousness. While historically, the Indian leftists have behaved like Islamist cheerleaders for political gains the brutal attacks on communist leaders in Bangladesh by Islamists should raise an alarm for them. The Islamists have only one ideology which is to establish the supremacy of Islam wherever they live.
The condoning of such slogans, believing they are just a cathartic expression of a livid mob aggrieved over the purported insult of their prophet, is nothing but wishful thinking because chances are that some religious zealot in the crowd, egged on by the slogans, would be motivated to pick up the weapon and proceed to kill someone like Kanhaiya Lal.
In such a scenario, the state cannot assume a lasseiz-fair approach and allow the sloganeers to sow hatred and walk away with impunity. Instead, it should come down hard against such miscreants and set an example for others to discourage them from indulging in similar behaviour. Bulldozer action, slapping UAPA charges, and stripping away government benefits are some of the initial measures the government can take to tackle the menace of ‘Sar Tan Se Judaa’ chants. In most cases, Islamists use critical remarks made by certain individuals as seen in the case of Ramgiri Maharaj, to unleash riots and wreak havoc on Hindus and then play victim claiming that they are suffering “Zulm” of Hindutva people.
If the country does not want more Umesh Kolhe, Kanhaiyalal and Kamlesh Tiwari beheaded by Islamists, the government should ban the slogan altogether and criminalise its usage. The least this ban would do is send out a message to the Islamists that India is still a democratic Hindu-majority country and not some ‘Dar ul Islam’ they dream of.
