Uttarakhand Police was heavily criticized for lack of prompt action after the Haridwar incident.
New Delhi:
A right-wing group’s request for a religious gathering in Roorkee has met with a firm nod from the Uttarakhand Police, sparked by a massive controversy over hate speeches at several such events, including one in Haridwar in December. Police took immediate precautionary measures – including imposing prohibitory orders and banning large gatherings and flooding the area with police personnel.
The police have also filed a First Information Report against the organizers citing the Supreme Court’s orders to the state government to ensure that no further hate speech is given.
The right-wing group had on Wednesday raised alarm bells in the police department seeking permission for a religious convention in Roorkee.
Yogesh Rawat, a senior police officer in the area, said, “Around 200 constables and head constables have been deputed in the area. There are also over 100 inspectors and sub-inspectors. Besides, we have deputed five companies of PAC (provincial armed). Constabulary)”.
“The Supreme Court is probing the entire matter, so we cannot tolerate leniency…everything will happen from the book,” he said.
The Supreme Court, which is hearing a petition about hate speech at events in Haridwar and Delhi’s Burari, has sought a status report on the matter from the police.
The petition mentions that the speakers at an event organized by Yeti Narasimhanand in Haridwar gave an open call for “genocide” of Muslims. A similar demand was made at an event in Delhi’s Burari organized by right-wing group Hindu Yuva Vahini, the petition said.
Uttarakhand Police was heavily criticized for not taking prompt action after the Haridwar incident.
The petition in the Supreme Court states that “no effective steps have been taken by the police officers”. Police said it had registered two FIRs against 10 people and the allegations were not comprehensive.
The first arrest was made almost a month after the incident following the intervention of the apex court.
Shortly after the incident, a video surfaced in which hate-mongers making open calls for the massacre were laughing with a police officer who they said would be “on our side”, which sparked a lot of criticism against the state police. was also criticized.