An activist from the city had been running from pillar to post for over a month to get a FIR registered against a Hindu Janjagruti Samiti activist over communally provocative statements accusing Muslim fruit sellers of ‘spit jihad’ and calling to boycott them. A FIR was finally registered at Sanjay Nagar Police Station on Friday, but only after intervention by a city court.
Zia R. Nomani, a founding member of Law and Policy Research Institute, filed a complaint against Chandru Mogar, coordinator of Hindu Janjagruthi Samithi, over his statements at Sanjay Nagar Police Station on April 6. However, the police refused to register an FIR citing jurisdictional issues. “I met everyone in the city police hierarchy requesting them to take up a case, but failed to get them to act. I was forced to approach the court with a private complaint seeking directions to the police,” he said. The Sanjay Nagar police have now registered a FIR against Chandru Mogar under Section 153A of Indian Penal Code for “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race...”
Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, the organisation the accused is associated with has been under the police scanner in the State, as members associated with it have been accused and arrested for the murders of scholar M. M. Kalburgi and editor-activist Gauri Lankesh.
Mr. Nomani said that having had to get the courts to intervene to get a FIR against such communally provocative speeches was a “blot on our democracy”. “We feel the police are working under pressure, either from these organisations or from the ruling party. But is it not dangerous for the State’s security to soft-pedal organisations like HJS, members of which have been accused in murders of writers,” he said. “Now that the FIR has been registered, I hope the police probes the case diligently and brings the accused to book,” he added.
A senior city police official, who did not wish to be named, said there was no question of soft-pedaling any Hindutva organisation, but the FIR was not registered due to jurisdictional issues, as the speech in question was not made in Sanjay Nagar.
Another complaint refused
Mr. Nomani tried to lodge another complaint on Saturday against organisers of a Hindu Rashtra convention held in Rajajinagar on May 8, organised by Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, alleging several hate speeches were made against the Muslim community at the event.
“The police have refused to take our complaint, directing us to lodge our complaint in Rajajinagar where the convention took place. But I saw the videos, reports of the convention at my home in Sanjay Nagar. Police are wary of taking complaints against Hindutva organisations,” Mr. Nomani said.
