The Left-affiliated All India Students’ Association (AISA) on Saturday protested outside the Uttar Pradesh Bhawan here against a seer, who allegedly delivered a hate speech against a community and made a rape threat, and demanded his arrest. Over 50 protesters were detained by police and later released, according to officials. Bajrang Muni Das, mahant of Maharshi Shri Lakshman Das Udasin Ashram in Uttar Pradesh’s Khairabad town, allegedly made the speech and threat on April 2 and a video of it surfaced on social media on Thursday. In the two-minute video, Das is heard saying if any Hindu girl is teased by a man belonging to a particular community, he would himself rape a woman of that community. AISA activists raised slogans demanding Das’ immediate arrest. They alleged that police detained them and several protesters were injured in the melee. “Women, Muslim and queer protesters were harassed by police. Even after 6 pm, police refused to release the detained protesters, some of whom were observing ‘roza’. Finally, just three minutes before the time of breaking the fast, the protesters were released,” the AlSA claimed. A senior police officer said 52 protesters — 42 men and 10 women — were detained and later released. The Uttar Pradesh Police on Friday registered a case against Das over his hate speech. Hours after the case was registered, a video surfaced online in which Das apologised and said his statement had been presented in a “wrong way”.
