The sloganeering mob that raised inflammatory, anti-Muslim chants at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar cornered a journalist and tried to force him into chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram,’ visuals put out by the reporter show. The incident took place on Sunday, August 8, at a rally called by former Delhi spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay, who has since been arrested by the Delhi police. Videos showing anti-Muslim slogans being raised during a protest at Jantar Mantar were widely circulated on social media, following which the Delhi Police registered a case in connection with the matter on Monday.
Hundreds of people had attended the protest organised by Bharat Jodo Aandolan at Jantar Mantar on Sunday. National Dastak reporter Anmol Pritam was one of the journalists at the spot covering the communal slogans. “An attempt was made to scare me and force me into ‘Jai Shri Ram.’ When I refused, they pushed me around. You can see in the video,” Anmol Pritam said, sharing the video of the incident.
The video shows a crowd around the journalists agitatedly telling the scribe, “Say Jai Shri Ram!” When he doesn’t, the crowd boos him and and a man shouts, “Ye hai jihadi! (this is a jihadi).” A man is heard shouting, “If you want to live in this country, then you have to say Jai Shri Ram.” Another man comes up to him and asks, “Why can’t you say, is something stuck in your mouth?”
The journalist then tells the crowd, “If I feel like it, then I will say it. You cannot force me to say it.” The journalist then tries to move out of the crowd, and as he is leaving, another man comes up to him.
मुझसे डरा धमकाकर "जय श्री राम"बुलवाने की कोशिश की गई. जब मैंने मना किया तो मेरे साथ धक्का मुक्की भी किया गया. आप लोग वीडियो में खुद ही देख लीजिए@NationalDastak @Profdilipmandal pic.twitter.com/iswtGbff72
— Reporter Anmol Pritam (@anmolpritamND) August 8, 2021
National Dastak tweeted another video of the incident. “Bahujan journalist Anmol Pritam was threatened by so-called Hindu organisations. It appears that this so-called Hindu organisation does not consider people from the Dalit and OBC communities as Hindus. The National Dastak team condemns this incident,” the channel tweeted.
The Indian Express reported on Tuesday, August 10, that six people, including advocate and former BJP spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay, have been arrested in connection with the slogans raised at Jantar Mantar. According to the report, Ashwini Upadhyay, Deepak Singh Hindu ( president of Hindu Force), Vineet Kranti, Preet Singh and Vinod Sharma (the head of Sudarshan Vahini) have been arrested.
Earlier, Upadhyay had tried to distance himself from the rally, saying that the event was held against colonial laws and to demand that 222 British laws be abolished, and had denied any involvement in the anti-Muslim slogan shouting incident.
"I have submitted a complaint to the Delhi Police to examine the video which went viral. If the video is authentic, then strict action should be taken against the persons who were involved in it," he said. "I have no idea who they are. I have never seen them, never met them and neither called them there. Till the time I was there, they were not seen there. If the video is fake, then a propaganda is being circulated to defame Bharat Jodo Andolan," Upadhyay had said.
Videos from the rally showed a group of people shouting inflammatory slogans and threatening Muslims during the protest at Jantar Mantar. Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Deepak Yadav had said, "We have received a video and we are examining it. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the law and an investigation is in progress."