Supreme Court urged to set up permanent commissioner, monitor hate speeches by top BJP ministers, politicians

Katheriya

By A Representative
Former judges, IPS officers, jurists, scientists and businessmen – a list that includes Justice PB Sawant and Julio Ribeiro -- has appealed to the Chief Justice and other Judges of the Supreme Court of India that they take suo motu cognizance on the issue of “alarming and threatening statements” allegedly by those in powerful constitutional positions within the Union government or associated with it.
Particularly calling the speech made by Ram Shankar Katheriya, Union minister of state (MOS) for human resources development (MHRD) in Agra, as “brazen”, the representation includes references to other shocking instances of “hate speech” from ministers and elected representatives of the present government at the Centre.
Stating that India was being “pushed to the brink by such statements”, the signatories have urged that the Supreme Court set up a permanent commission to “monitor and oversee” all such meetings happening to prevent a situation of hate driven provocation and attacks on marginalised sections.
Submitting a similar representation to President Pranab Mukherjee, the representation says, “These statements have caused fear and insecurity among India’s citizens, the marginalized sections, especially minorities, Dalits and Adivasis.”
The signatories have pointed towards how, in the presence of a minister of state in the central government and a member of parliament of the ruling party, Muslims were equated to “demons” and “descendants of Ravana”, and were warned of a “final battle”.
Speakers reportedly urged Hindus to “corner Muslims and destroy the demons (rakshas)”, while declaring that “all preparations” had been made to effect “badla (revenge)” before the 13th-day death rituals for Mahaur.
“Human skulls would be offered to his martyrdom,” VHP district secretary Ashok Lavania, who has been jailed earlier for assaults on Muslims, reportedly said.
Talking about the coming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, BJP MLA Jagan Prasad Garg reportedly told the crowd, “You will have to fire bullets, you will have to take up rifles, you will have to wield knives. Elections are approaching in 2017, begin showing your strength from now onwards.” The 5,000-odd crowd chanted slogans such as “Any Hindu whose blood does not boil isn’t Hindu enough”.
MP Babulal reportedly urged an open fight with Muslims, and said: “Don’t try to test us… We will not tolerate insults to the community. We do not want unrest at any cost, but if you want to test Hindus, then let’s decide a date and take on Muslims.”
Agra's BJP leader Kundanika Sharma reportedly said, "We want the heads of these traitors, the killers of Arun Mahaur,”. “This is not the time to sit quiet.Raid them, wear burqas, but corner them. Behead ten in revenge for one head.”
VHP district secretary Ashok Lavania reportedly talked of khoon ka badla khoon (blood for blood), adding, “We are fully prepared. If they retaliate, then it will be a mahasangram, Mahabharat. he final battle.”
“The fundamental rights of the people under Article 14, 19, 21 and 25 of the Indian Constitution need to be protected. The letter urges that the Supreme to take suo motu notice of this and issues strict directions that protect the fundamental rights of all Indians”, the representation said.
It urged, those responsible for such hate speeches “need to be punished for violating their constitutional duty under Article 51A(e) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious diversities.”
Apart from Justice Sawant, former judge of the Supreme Court and chairperson, Press Council of India, and Ribeiro, former director general of police, Punjab, the representation has been signed by Justice (retired) Rajinder Sachar, Justice (retired) BG Kolse Patil, Justice (retired) Hosbet Suresh, Iqbal Chagla (senior counsel), Cyrus Guzder (businessman), PM Bhargava (scientist), Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood (President, Zakat Foundation of India), Reverend Fr Dr Packiam T Samuel, Nandan Maluste (financial analyst), Janak Dwarkadas (senior counsel), Navroz H Seervai (senior counsel), Anil Dharker (senior journalist), IM Kadri (architect) and SM Mushrif (former inspector general of police).
Others whom the petition names for their hate speeches include MOS External Affairs VK Singh, MOS Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, BJP MP Yogi Adityanath, MOS Giriraj Singh, BJP MP, Sakshi Maharaj, BJP president, Amit Shah, MOS for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat,

Comments

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

Subject to geological upheaval, the time to listen to the Himalayas has already passed

By Rajkumar Sinha* The people of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, who have somehow survived the onslaught of reckless development so far, are crying out in despair that within the next ten to fifteen years their very existence will vanish. If one carefully follows the news coming from these two Himalayan states these days, this painful cry does not appear exaggerated. How did these prosperous and peaceful states reach such a tragic condition? What feats of our policymakers and politicians pushed these states to the brink of destruction?

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

'Centre criminally negligent': SKM demands national disaster declaration in flood-hit states

By A Representative The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has urged the Centre to immediately declare the recent floods and landslides in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Haryana as a national disaster, warning that the delay in doing so has deepened the suffering of the affected population.

Rally in Patna: Non-farmer bodies to highlight plight of agriculture in Eastern India ahead of march to Parliament

P Sainath By A Representative Ahead of the march to Parliament on November 29-30, 2018, organized by over 210 farmer and agricultural worker organisations of the country demanding a 21-day special session of Parliament to deliberate on remedial measures for safeguarding the interest of farm, farmers and agricultural workers, a mass rally been organized for November 23, Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Museum), Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Say the organizers, the Eastern region merits special attention, because, while crisis of farmers and agricultural workers in Western, Southern and Northern India has received some attention in the media and central legislature, the plight of those in the Eastern region of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Eastern UP) has remained on the margins. To be addressed by P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a statement issued ahead of the rally says, the Eastern India was the most prosperous regi...

Counterview

Search This Blog