25 cases of hate speech still pending: Akal Takht on police action against Delhi youth
Either only FIRs were registered with no further action or no FIRs were registered at all despite formal complaints, the Akal Takht said.
The SGPC lawyer, Amanbir Siali, highlighted the glaring inconsistencies in handling of cases involving hurt religious sentiments by police. (Screengrab from Video on X/@ANI) The Punjab Police’s swift action in Amritsar against a youth, who rinsed his mouth in Darbar Sahib’s sacred sarovar, for hurting Sikh sentiments has raised questions on the law enforcement agency’s functioning in other such cases.
The accused, Subhan Rangrez, has been sent to police remand for three days by the court on Wednesday, after which police brought him to Amritsar.
The youth from Delhi had come to Darbar Sahib on January 13, where he allegedly rinsed his mouth in the sarovar. He roamed around the Darbar Sahib complex and had a video shot by another companion.
Following a complaint by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), police arrested him within three days and registered a case of sacrilege against him.
The SGPC lawyer, Amanbir Siali, highlighted the glaring inconsistencies in handling of cases involving hurt religious sentiments by police.
While this incident led to a swift arrest, some older complaints against social media offenders have been stalled for years. One such offender includes a Gujarat woman named Archana Makwana. Makwana was also booked for hurting Sikh sentiments after she performed Yoga in Darbar Sahib premises on June 21, 2024 — World Yoga Day.
“We have filed an application in court for directions regarding her arrest,” Siali said. No chargesheet has been filed in the Makwana case and the accused has neither obtained anticipatory bail nor joined the investigation, he said.
“Police is actually defending Makwana in court as in response to our demand of her arrest, police informed court that Makwana has apologised to SGPC via email.”
Siali also criticised police’s track record on hate speech and parody accounts targeting Darbar Sahib or the SGPC. “In these cases, they often don’t even get the required sanction from the Home Ministry.”
Alleging bias, he said, “There’s no doubt about it. There is clearly that kind of pressure. Police show ‘efficiency’ here by going to court and getting remands, yet they use an apology as justification in the other cases.”
Subhan had also sought apology twice in videos yet he was still arrested.
Akal Takht Sahib in a statement said that the SGPC and Sri Darbar Sahib management have sent around 25 cases of hate speech against Sikhs to the Punjab Police and yet they are awaiting action in the last five years.
Either only FIRs were registered with no further action or no FIRs were registered at all despite formal complaints, it said.
“Government must clarify why no action has been taken so far in cases lodged by the SGPC and the management of Sri Darbar Sahib, including: the sacrilege committed by jumping over the railing at Sri Darbar Sahib; the matter of fake social media accounts of the SGPC; complaint against one Puneet Sahni; complaint against 28 YouTube channels uploading anti-Sikh content; and the ongoing case against Archana Makwana related to performing yoga at Sri Darbar Sahib.”
When asked if chargesheet is filed in any of the hate speech cases filed on the complaint of SGPC, SHO police station Cyber Crime Amritsar Rajbir Kaur declined to provide any information.
On the Makwana case, SHO (E Division) Harmanjit Bal said, “The case is still under investigation.”
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