Seeking 'Strict Action' Against Bajrang Muni Over His Alleged Call For Genocide Of Muslims, CJP Files Letter Plea In Allahabad HC

A letter plea has been filed before the Allahabad High Court praying it to take suo moto cognizance of an alleged video featuring Mahant Bajrang Muni making calls for genocide against the Muslim community and instigating the Hindus to kill Muslims.

The letter petition has been filed by 'Citizens for Justice and Peace' (CJP) seeking necessary directions to the State of Uttar Pradesh to take strict action against Bajrang Muni.

The letter plea, addressed to Acting Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and other judges of the High Court, refers to an alleged hate-filled video circulating on social media featuring Bajrang Muni and calling for genocide against the Muslim community with unlawful utterances being made.

The plea further states that Muni, in the alleged video, could be seen instigating Hindus to kill Muslims and exterminate the entire community in order to achieve the dream of ‘Hindu Rashtra’. Quoting from the alleged video of February 2023, the plea states that Muni has made the following remark:

“In order to make a Hindu Rashtra, we will have to exterminate the Muslim community. Until Muslims are completely exterminated, Bharat cannot become Hindu Rashtra. The entire world knows that Bharat was Hindu Rashtra and we were living in peace. However, due to Muslim jihadis, this country could not remain a Hindu Rashtra. So now we must now take vengeance. We cannot wait for India to become a Hindu Rashtra, we have to speed it up and that is possible only when we finish off those with a jihadi mindset"

The letter further states that it is not any random remark made by Muni and that several such hate speeches are being made across the country by various such repeated hate offenders and all of them enjoy impunity.

Stressing that such alleged videos/remarks have created a public atmosphere of fear and intimidation for India’s minorities, a state that is unhealthy for any society, the plea adds thus:

"Such rampant calls for genocide and violence against Muslim community are made almost on a daily basis and the videos are circulated by the perpetrators themselves on social media. This shows how brazen these hate offenders are how little care and respect they have for the law of the land. This is majorly due to the inaction on the part of the Police in such cases...The Preamble to our Constitution underlines not just Social, Economic and Political Justice for All the People of India, but also Fraternity (brotherhood and sisterhood among our peoples) that assures the dignity of every individual which status then is indelibly connected to the unity and integrity of the Nation"

The letter plea further brings to High Court's attention the remarks made by the Supreme Court while dealing with a spate of petitions against Hate Speech. The plea specifically refers to the Supreme Court January 13 2023 observations, wherein a bench comprising Justice KM Joseph and Justice BV Nagarathna directed the respondents to “ensure that immediately as and when any speech or any action takes place which attracts offences such as Sections 153A, 153B and 295A and 505 of the IPC etc., suo moto action will be taken to register cases even if no complaint is forthcoming and proceed against the offenders in accordance with law.”

Against this backdrop, the plea urges the High Court to take suo moto cognizance of the alleged video/incident and issue a writ for taking strict action against Bajrang Muni for his hate speech.