Yati Ramswaroopanand, who ‘urged Hindus to take up arms’, booked over ‘hate speech targeting minorities’ in Dehradun

In the purported video, he is allegedly heard saying that Hindus should keep weapons to protect women and children from members of the minority community.

According to a statement issued by police in Dehradun, they have taken suo motu cognizance of the viral video and registered a case against Giri. Further investigation is underway, they said.

“Our social media monitoring team found that the words used in the speech were against (specific) caste/religion and fell under the category of hate speech. As per the Supreme Court’s directions, the police immediately register an FIR whenever they come to know about hate speech. Therefore, after investigation, an FIR was registered on the complaint of SI Devendra Gupta,” said Dehradun SSP Ajai Singh.

According to the complaint, it was at a press conference organised Tuesday at the Press Club in Dehradun that Giri made the alleged hate speech. He announced that the Vishwa Dharma Sansad, in which several seers are scheduled to take part, would be held from December 14 to December 21 this year. During this sansad, he allegedly said, they will discuss making Uttarakhand “Islam-free”.

He is also alleged to have said that the minority community was producing much more children than the majority community, and Hindus have turned “impotent”.

The FIR was registered under Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 353 (statements conducing to public mischief).

The Dehradun SSP appealed to the public not to spread posts through social media that would spread animosity in society on the basis of religion, caste, or region. He said the police are continuously monitoring such posts.