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NC seeks disqualification of BJP’s Doda East candidate over ‘communal’ speech
A 39-second video clip containing the communal speech, purportedly made by BJP’s Doda East candidate, Gajay Singh Rana, has stirred a hornet’s nest in Jammu and Kashmir
The National Conference has lodged a written complaint before the Election Commission seeking immediate disqualification of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Doda East candidate, Gajay Singh Rana, over an alleged communal speech.
The 39-second video clip containing the communal speech, purportedly made by Rana, has stirred a hornet’s nest in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rana, who is purportedly seen addressing a small gathering in video can be heard saying massacres in Doda district – at Chapnari, Kamlari, Barshalla or Sarthal – had Hindus as targets and Muslims as perpetrators. He was also heard asking the people to get united against such forces.
In the complaint before the election commission, the NC has sought immediate disqualification of Rana and registration of an FIR under relevant sections of law.
“A candidate namely Gajay Singh Rana contesting from Doda East constituency from BJP’s mandate has made inflammatory and communal statements during his election campaign that warrant immediate action under the law. He claimed that the previous and recent violent incidents in the region were not a battle against terrorism but rather a direct attack by the Muslim community on the Hindu community,” read part of NC’s complaint.
“He further stated that this is not a war between the Indian state and terrorists but a war between Hindu and Muslim communities. These statements are not only factually incorrect but are also designed to incite communal hatred and unrest. Such rhetoric is highly inflammatory and has the potential to provoke violence between the communities, disrupt public order, and disturb the peace in an already sensitive region,” it added.
Rana, meanwhile, said the video had been “tampered with”.
“The video is of June 19, 2024, when I gave my speech at the martyrs’ anniversary of Chapnari massacre. They [NC] have picked up a selective part of my speech from the video to suit their agenda. We have a full video with us. On June 19, 1998, terrorists attacked two Barats at Chapnari. At gunpoint, baratis were asked to alight from vehicles and they were asked their names. While Muslims were spared, 28 Hindus were shot dead,” Rana said.
He added the NC, being on a “slippery wicket” were resorting to alternative tactics.
BJP’s local unit chief Ravinder Raina, meanwhile, said, “This video is a fake video, fabricated video and old video.”
Sarthal killings, which claimed 17 lives, took place on August 14, 1993, when armed terrorists had hijacked a local bus. Terrorists had also killed 16 people on January 5, 1996, in Barshalla, and eight people in Kamlari in the 1990s.
Rana, it may be stated here, is the president of the Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Doda.
Nominations for the Doda East assembly constituency closed on Tuesday. The constituency goes to polls in the first phase on September 18.
