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Synopsis

A lawyer has moved the Bombay High Court seeking the registration of an FIR against Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and BJP leader Nitesh Rane for their alleged Islamophobic speeches.

The petitioner claimed to have come across a video of Saint Mahant Ramgiri Maharaj making derogatory remarks about Prophet Mohammed.

Advocate Mohammed Wasi Sayed, the petitioner, stated that in a public rally, CM Shinde and Rane supported the speeches of Mahant Ramgiri Maharaj.

Furthermore, he stated that the CM extended support to the saint and asked the police not to take action against him.

The plea states that since 2022, at least 50 'Hindu Jan Aakrosh Morcha' rallies have been conducted across nearly all of Maharashtra's 36 districts, with most of them mysteriously organized by a radical NGO named Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, based in Goa.

Each of these events has followed a set pattern: a long march in 'open vehicles' with loudspeakers and DJs playing with anti-Muslim overtones through the heart of the city, amid a sea of saffron flags and caps, followed by a short rally.

At these rallies, speakers on a makeshift dais attack minorities, Muslims, and Waqf, invoking terms like "love jihad," "boycott halal/Muslim shops," "market jihad," "land jihad," "forced conversions," and call for the economic boycott of the Muslim community, according to an Indian Express report.

Furthermore, the plea states that online 'Islamophobic' content has become fodder not only for generating funds for social media handles but also for political mileage.