An FIR has been lodged against Jitendra Narayan Tyagi and others in connection with alleged hate speeches delivered at a conclave titled ‘Dharma Sansad’ in Haridwar to incite violence against minorities, police said on Friday, December 24. Tyagi, a former chairman of the Shia Central Waqf Board of Uttar Pradesh, changed his name from Waseem Rizvi after converting to Hinduism earlier this month. Tyagi and other speakers at last week's event have been accused of making extremely provocative speeches and some video clips of it are doing the rounds on social media.
Haridwar Kotwali Police station SHO Rakinder Singh said that the FIR was registered on Thursday, December 23, under Section 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the matter is under investigation. The FIR has been registered on the basis of a complaint by a resident of Jwalapur area in Haridwar. Asked by PTI about the video clips being shared on social media, the official said the police are not in possession of any footage of the event yet.
A senior TMC leader had demanded on Thursday immediate action against the organisers and speakers of the event held at Ved Niketan Dham in Haridwar for three days last week. Trinamool Congress national spokesperson Saket Gokhale lodged a complaint in this connection at Jwalapur police station asking the SHO to register an FIR in the matter within 24 hours.
Gokhale, who shared a copy of his complaint on his Twitter handle, set a deadline of December 27 for the police to arrest the organisers of the Dharma Sansad and those who delivered inflammatory speeches against Muslims and other minorities at the event. “If an FIR is not registered against those involved within 24 hours, a complaint will be made to a judicial magistrate,” Gokhale said in his complaint to the SHO.
At the event, several speakers allegedly made inflammatory and provocative speeches calling for the killing of people from the minority communities and invoking people to take up arms. The ‘Dharma Sansad’ was allegedly organised by Yati Narasimhanand Giri of Juna Akhada who is already under police scanner for making alleged hate speeches and inciting violence against minorities in the past.