Six, including BJP member, arrested for anti-Muslim slogans at Jantar Mantar protest

Six people, including BJP member Ashwini Upadhyay, have been arrested over anti-Muslim slogans that were raised at a Jantar Mantar protest on Sunday, NDTV reported.

The police questioned Upadhyay, one of the organisers of the protest, and the other accused till late last night.

These arrests came after videos from the protest went viral on social media on Sunday. The clips showed the crowd raising anti-Muslim slogans and openly calling for the killing of Muslims. One of the clips showed people chanting “Hindustan mein rehna hoga jai shri ram kehna hoga”. There were questions raised on the police not arresting those who were behind the organisation of this event.

Delhi police had claimed they had not given permission for the protest because of Covid protocols. Upadhyay, on the other hand, had claimed that he had no knowledge of such slogans being raised because his protest had ended earlier on Sunday.

NDTV quoted Upadhyay as saying, “I don't have any relation with Save India Foundation Trust. I was a guest like Mr RVS Mani, Mr Firoz Bakht Ahmed, Mr Gajendra Chauhan. We reached at around 11:00 and left at 12:00. I never met these miscreants.”

Among those arrested is Save India’s director Preet Singh, Vinod Sharma, Deepak Singh, Vineet Kranti and Deepak.