In the wake of violent clashes between two communities at Nuh and Gurugram districts of Haryana, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, seeking action against certain groups, which were allegedly calling for social and economic boycott of Muslims.
The matter was mentioned before the Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, which was hearing the petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
Appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal contended that a very serious thing was happening in Gurugram, where the shopkeepers were told, in front of the policemen that if they employed these people (belonging to minority community) in their shops, they would all be called as ‘gaddars’.
Stating that they have filed an urgent petition in the case, the Senior Advocate requested the Apex Court to look at the same during the lunchtime.
The petition has been moved as an interlocutory application by Shaheen Abdullah in a pending writ petition by Abdullah.
The petitioner mentioned the August 2 order of the Supreme Court, wherein it had directed the police authorities to ensure that no hate speech or violence took place during the various marches being held by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal in different parts of the Delhi-National Capital Region in protest against the recent incidents of communal violence in Nuh and Gurugram of Haryana.
The plea said despite the Apex Court order, more than 27 rallies have been organised across various states, wherein blatant hate speeches were delivered, calling for the killing, along with social and economic boycott of Muslims.
Abdullah referred to a video that surfaced on social media on August 2, which allegedly showed a procession by the Samhast Hindu Samaj through a neighbourhood in Hisar, Haryana issuing warnings to residents and shopkeepers that if they continued to employ or keep any Muslims after two days, their shops would be boycotted.
The petitioner alleged that the threat calls against the minority community were made in the presence of police officers.
It further alleged that VHP leader Kapil Swami called for violence and boycott of Muslims in the presence of police officials in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh on August 4.
Referring to a speech made by a Bajrang Dal leader in Fazilka of Punjab on August 6, the petitioner said the leader, during his speech, justified the murders of Nasir and Junaid, who were brutally beaten and burnt alive in February, 2023.
The petitioner warned that such rallies, which ‘demonised’ the communities and openly called for violence and killing of people, were not limited in terms of their impact to just those areas presently dealing with communal tensions, but would inevitably lead to communal disharmony and violence of an unfathomable scale across the country.
The plea sought action against police officers who participated in those rallies & meetings and failed to prevent hate speeches, apart from directions to the concerned State police to explain the action taken by them against hate speeches.