Letter petition before Allahabad HC Seeks Strict Action Against UP Seer Bajrang Muni For His Alleged Calls for Genocide

The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) has filed a letter plea before the Allahabad High Court seeking strict action against Uttar Pradesh seer Bajrang Muni for his alleged call for genocide of Muslims. 

The plea refers to an alleged hate-filled video that has been circulating on social media where Mahant Bajrang Muni can be seen in the video allegedly instigating Hindus to kill Muslims and exterminate the entire community in order to achieve the dream of ‘Hindu Rashtra’.

"This is not the first of such hate offences committed by a person, Sir who seeks protection behind the mendicant’s saffron robes", states the plea which has been addressed to the Acting Chief Justice Justice Pritinker Diwaker and other companion judges. 

The plea further submits that Mahant Bajrang Muni had been arrested in the past also in April 2022, on charges of issuing a criminal threat to rape Muslim women while he was addressing supporters who took out a procession on the occasion of Navratri and Hindu New Year, outside a mosque. He was granted bail by a local court within 10 days.

As per the plea, in the concerned video, Muni can be seen saying, 

“In order to make a Hindu Rashtra, we will have to exterminate the Muslim community. Until Muslims are completely exterminated, Bharat cannot become Hindu Rashtra. The entire world knows that Bharat was Hindu Rashtra and we were living in peace. However, due to Muslim jihadis, this country could not remain a Hindu Rashtra. So now we must now take vengeance. “We cannot wait for India to become a Hindu Rashtra, we have to speed it up and that is possible only when we finish off those with a jihadi mindset.”

Bajrang Muni is the priest or ‘mahant’ of Maharshi Shri Lakshman Das Udasin Ashram in Khairabad town in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh.

Referring to Muni's arrest in the April 2022 matter, the plea states, "Despite his previous arrest, Bajrang Muni has resorted to a similar kind of targeted, stigmatizing hate speech i.e. directed at ordinary Muslims; however, this is even a greater degree this time".

Moreover, the plea emphasizes that this is not a single instance of such hate speech. "While this may seem like a random remark made by a hate offender, we would like to point out that several such hate speeches are being made across the country by various such repeated hate offenders and all of them enjoy impunity. Such rampant calls for genocide and violence against Muslim community are made almost on a daily basis and the videos are circulated by the perpetrators themselves on social media," the plea reads. 

The plea also mentions that CJP has filed multiple complaints to multiple authorities for action over these cases. "...however, since these individuals are backed by major right wing organizations, no action has been in sight," the plea alleges. 

CJP has also relied on the Supreme Court's order dated October 21, 2022 wherein the Top Court had made certain oral remarks."...that indicate how seriously the court is viewing these incidents of hate speech keeping in mind the impact these rampant speeches can have on the psyche of not just the minority that is under threat, but also the majority that is being instigated against them," the plea submits. 

While highlighting the recent incidents where people from the Muslim community have been targeted including the burning of two Muslim men over allegations of cow smuggling, the plea prays, 

"Hon’ble Sir, we humbly urge you to take suo moto cognizance of this incident and issue a writ for taking strict action against Bajrang Muni for his hate speech. We strongly believe that if this court, in all its wisdom, take this matter up, it will serve as a deterrent for such fundamentalists who make such calls for genocide."

The plea states that the following offences punishable under Sections 153,153A, 153B, 295, 29, 503, 504, and 505 of the Indian Penal Code are made out against Bajrang Muni.