Trinamool Congress national spokesperson Saket Gokhale has accused police of making violent remarks against another religious community at a religious conference in India. He lodged the complaint with the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand on Thursday.
Allegedly, a ‘religious parliament’ or religious conference in the town of Haridwar in the state called for the direct ‘extermination’ of people belonging to certain communities. Thousands of people attended the conference, which lasted from December 18 to 20. Among them were leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Gokhale alleged that several speakers at the conference had openly incited Hindus to attack other communities by raising swords and guns. At that time, Dharam Das Maharaj, a saint from Patna, Bihar, said, “If I had a gun, I would have killed former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Parliament like Nathuram Godse.” Nathuram Godse assassinated Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a prominent Indian politician. Gokhale has sent several videos of such statements to the police with allegations.
Yati Narsimananda, a saint from Juna Akhara in Benares, Uttar Pradesh, organized the religious conference. Several cases have already been filed against him.
At the time, Yati Narsimananda, referring to specific communities in his speech, said, “We need better weapons, not just swords.” Narsimananda has been consistently giving such hate speeches for the last few years. Although there were several cases in these incidents, no government of India took any strict action against him.
Apart from Udita Tyagi, a member of the BJP’s women’s wing, and Ashwini Upadhyay, a BJP leader (who has been arrested and released on bail for making hate speech), a number of leaders from several Hindutva organizations also attended the conference. Trinamool leader Saket Gokhale gave all this information to the police.
Such remarks are a punishable offense under Section 153A, 295A of the Indian Act. Observers expect such events to escalate in India ahead of next February’s Uttar Pradesh elections. In such a context, Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale has demanded action against the accused by next Monday.
In recent months, Russia has multiplied its military presence on the Ukrainian border. Many international analysts feared that Putin would become embroiled in a dispute with the West, including the United States, over the Ukraine issue. But after much speculation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has allayed those fears. News from AFP and Reuters.
At a news conference on Thursday, Putin said Russia wants to avoid conflict with Ukraine and the West. “We don’t like it (war), and we don’t want it,” he added.
At the time, Putin said Russia had already received a positive response to the security offer, which was being handed over to the United States this month. A compromise meeting on the issue could begin early next year in Geneva, Switzerland. “I hope that as the situation improves, we will move forward with a better goal,” he said.
Russia recently mobilized thousands of troops on the Ukraine-Russia border. However, Russia has denied the allegations in a statement issued Friday stating “Similar, baseless allegations concerning Russia’s intelligence have been made more than once.
Russia says it wants a commitment from Western nations. And that is to prevent NATO forces from operating in Western Europe. The country claims that Russia is facing a security threat as Ukraine’s relations with its Western allies are strengthened. Russia fears that NATO could use its territory to launch missiles into Ukraine’s territory.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow could hold talks with the United States on the Ukraine issue in January. He said the meeting would raise concerns over the Ukraine conflict.
Sergei Lavrov made the remarks following remarks by US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried. Last Tuesday, Karen Donfried also spoke to reporters about the January meeting. At the time, however, he warned that Russia’s offer was “unacceptable.”
Russia last week presented two draft security proposals to the West. One is aimed at NATO and the other is aimed at the United States. Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) appealed to the United States and NATO last Wednesday to protect Europe’s interests. The security of Europe is currently under threat, the agency said in a statement.
