Plea in SC over hate speech at a rally in Hisar

The Supreme Court on Tuesday received an application seeking urgent intervention over hate speech made at an August 2 event in Haryana, where an open call to boycott Muslims was made in the aftermath of the recent communal violence in Nuh district.

The application was filed by Shaheen Abdullah, who had earlier flagged apprehensions of hate speech at 27 protest meetings held in Delhi-NCR by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and obtained an order from the top court on August 2 that directed the Centre, Delhi and states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to ensure no hate speech or violence takes place at these events.

Abdullah attached an audio clip of a procession held by Samasth Hindu Samaj at Hisar on August 2, in which residents were warned not to employ any person from the Muslim community in their houses or shops, as those found to do so will be branded as “traitors”. He also alleged that police personnel were present at the event.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the application before a Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on Tuesday, stating that the request for urgent listing of the matter is in the process of being filed. “ There are some decisions being taken that if a community is employed then the employer will be called a ‘gaddar’ (traitor). We will be filing an urgency application,” Sibal said.

The application stated that police personnel were present at the event as the procession moved through the neighbourhood in Haryana’s Hisar town issuing warnings to residents/shopkeepers that if they continue to employ/keep any Muslims, they will be called traitors, and boycott posters will be pasted on their shops.

Abdullah added in his plea that such rallies that demonise communities and openly call for violence and killing of people will inevitably lead to communal disharmony, as he sought the court’s urgent intervention.

The application also referred to two other events held at Sagar in Madhya Pradesh and Fazilka in Punjab, where hate speeches were given on August 4 and 6, respectively. According to the plea, at the Sagar event, VHP leader Kapil Swami said that Muslims in Mewat have no right to earn a livelihood for persecuting Hindus. At the other event, a Bajrang Dal leader allegedly justified the killing of two Muslim youths by cow vigilante groups, the application said.

The court has already directed the Centre and state authorities to ensure that “no hate speeches, irrespective of the identity, are made against any community and there is no physical violence or damage to the properties.” In the same order on August 2, the state authorities were directed to provide adequate police or paramilitary force at these events, while the police were instructed to make video recording of the events in all sensitive areas. These must be preserved along with the CCTV footage of the area, the top court had said.

The court is hearing a batch of petitions on hate speech and crimes against Muslims and had recently remarked that police need to be sensitised to register hate speech crimes as the definition of hate speech is complex and there is a larger issue of execution on the ground by police.

In October last year, the top court issued an order giving suo moto powers to the police to register criminal case as and when any hate speech or action involving it is committed without waiting for a formal complaint to be filed.

“We make it clear that such action will be taken irrespective of the religion that the maker of the speech or the person who commit such act belongs to, so that the secular character of Bharat as is envisaged by the Preamble, is preserved and protected,” the court said at the time.