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Stone pelting during Hindu Jan Akrosh Morcha at Solapur; BJP legislators booked for inflammatory speeches
The CCTV footage showed at least two persons pelting stones on the shops in which shopkeepers sustained minor injuries
The Solapur city police on Sunday booked T Raja, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Telangana; and Nitesh Rane, BJP legislator from Maharashtra for delivering inflammatory speeches during the Hindu Jan Akrosh Morcha held on Saturday.
The morcha, organised on Saturday to demand scrapping of the central Waqf Board Act, turned violent with stones being pelted at some shops. The CCTV footage showed at least two persons pelting stones on the shops in which shopkeepers sustained minor injuries.
The Solapur Police have arrested two suspects identified as Satish Shinde and Shekhar Swami on charges of carrying out rioting and vandalism. The incident took place at Madhla Maruti area, a place equidistant between the starting and end point of the morcha around 7 pm during the evening, police said.
A day later on Sunday, the Solapur police filed two FIRs: one naming Raja and Rane for alleged inflammatory speeches; and the other pertaining to stone pelting in which around 10 persons were booked. The Saturday rally was also attended by leaders of the Sakal Hindu Samaj, an umbrella body of several outfits, office-bearers of which have also been named in the FIR. According to the police, the morcha began from Shivaji Chowk at 6 pm and reached Kanna Chowk at 7 pm where a public meeting was held. According to the police, both BJP legislators delivered hate speeches hurting the religious sentiments of different communities.
Jail Road senior police inspector, J N Mogal, said that an FIR has been lodged against the two BJP legislators under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 153A (creating enmity between two different groups on grounds of religion); 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs); and others. According to the FIR filed by the police, Rane allegedly mentioned ‘jihadis’ and demolition of mosques while Raja made objectionable statements on love jihad.
Solapur police commissioner Rajendra Mane said, “We have lodged two FIRs in this case and the investigation is underway.”
Former chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde who hails from Solapur demanded strict action against the mischief mongers who, according to him, wanted to disturb law and order in the city. “It is an inappropriate and unfortunate incident,” Shinde said.
The second FIR has been lodged at Jodbhavi police station where an angry mob went berserk and attacked shops belonging to members of the minority community. The police have booked 10 persons including Sakal Hindu Samaj coordinator Sudhir Bahirwade under IPC 153 (wantonly provoking with the intent to cause riot); 147 (rioting); 148 (rioting with armed deadly weapon); 149 (unlawful assembly); 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others); and 427 (mischief).
While Rane said, “We are creating awareness amongst Hindus about land jihad, love jihad and gau hatya (cow killing). We are seeing that court directions are not being followed and we will question the government officials about it. Today we have gathered here to wage a war against jihadi forces. India is already a Hindu Rashtra and the entire land belongs to Hindus and not to anybody else.”
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Termed Hindu Jan Akrosh Morcha (outcry of Hindus), the state has witnessed more than 50 such marches so far organised under the umbrella body, Sakal Hindu Samaj.
The Sakal Hindu Samaj is a conglomerate of various pro-Hindutva outfits, mostly subscribing to the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
In Maharashtra, Hindutva outfits started it with one in Parbhani district of Marathwada region on November 20, 2022, days after media reports of Aaftab Amin Poonawalla allegedly murdering Shraddha Walkar.
