Police register FIR against VHP, other organisers over ‘hate speech’ event in Delhi
New Delhi: An FIR has been filed against the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the other organisers of an event in Delhi, where certain speakers allegedly delivered hate speeches, police said on Monday.
The VHP dismissed the claim that permission for the event was not taken from the city police as “laughable” and said police personnel were deployed at the venue of the event in Dilshad Garden.
Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Verma courted controversy on Sunday after he allegedly called for a total boycott of a community at the event held to protest against the killing of a 19-year-old Hindu man in northeast Delhi.
Verma, however, said he did not refer to any particular community in his address.
“An FIR has been registered against the organisers under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for not taking permission from police,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram said.
The event was organised by several right-wing outfits, including the VHP.
VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal said it is laughable that the police is saying no permission was taken for the programme, during which thousands of people, including police personnel, were present.
“Let alone permission, we fixed the venue at the Ramlila Ground in Dilshad Garden after suggestions and recommendations from senior police officers. We had earlier planned to organise the gathering near Manish’s (the man killed in northeast Delhi) house but on the request of the police, changed the venue to the Ramlila Maidan,” he claimed.
In a video purportedly of the event, Verma is heard saying, “Wherever you find them, there is only one way to straighten them — total boycott. Do you agree with me?”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP told PTI, “I did not name any community. I just said those involved in the killing of Hindus need to be boycotted.”
Manish was stabbed to death in Delhi’s Sundar Nagri earlier this month.
The Delhi Police has arrested all the accused in the case — Aalam, Bilal and Faizan — and said they killed Manish due to an old rivalry.
The police had on Sunday said it was obtaining the details of the event held in east Delhi’s Dilshad Garden and added that no permission was taken for organising it.
Verma is heard in the video seeking a response from the crowd to his call for a “total boycott” of the community and asking them to raise their hands if they agreed with him.
“We will not buy anything from their shops or pay them any wages. This is the only treatment for them,” he is heard saying in the video.
Manish’s killing was captured on a CCTV camera. In the footage, three men are seen walking down a lane and accosting the victim.
The footage shows one of the three men grabbing Manish by his collar and slapping him. The other two also join in and start stabbing the victim with knives.
