Yati Narsinghanand booked by Maharashtra police for hate speech against former President Kalam

The Ahmednagar Police in Maharashtra has lodged an FIR against controversial and far-right radical Hindutva priest Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Mahant, of Ghaziabad based Dasna Devi Mandir Trust, for delivering inflammatory and communal speech against former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, and the muslim community.

The FIR under IPC sections 153 A, 153 B, 295 A and 505 was lodged at Topkhana Police Station after the district court issued an order directing the district police to register a case under section 156 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). It is the first case against the Hindutva monk by Maharashtra Police.

Architect Arshid Shaikh, Bahirnath Wakale and Anand Lokhande had filed a petition in the district court on July 23, 2021, seeking a criminal case against the right-wing leader through Maharashtra’s acclaimed civil rights lawyer Advocate Asim Sarode.

Reacting to the development Advocate Sarode said “After the registration of the FIR, there are only three options before the accused. First being that Narsinghanand will have to approach the district court for bail, challenge the FIR in the high court or get arrested by Ahmednagar Police. ”

The petitioners in their statement released after the FIR registration said “Rabid communalist elements like Narsinghanand are attacking the unity of the nation and must be sent behind the bars. Hardcore terrorists like him give inhuman calls like genocide of muslims during the Dharma Sansad held recently. Such violent extremists must be arrested and sent into long term imprisonment to maintain peace and communal harmony in the society. We appreciate the strong step taken by Ahmednagar Police to book the enemy of the nation under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” they added.

The police have booked him under IPC 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration), 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 505 (statement conducing to public mischief).

The FIR stated, “Yati Narsinghanand's communal speech was circulated on YouTube and Punjab Kesari online where he addressed former Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as a Jehadi number 1. During his tenure, he gave the nuclear bomb formulas to Pakistan. While he was the director of DRDO and President, many Hindu scientists were assassinated. He was connected to terrorist Afzal Guru and for that he had commissioned a special cell in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millai Islamia and Darul Uloom Deoband were transforming India into Afghanistan. In 2029, there will be a Muslim Prime Minister of India who will lead the country into darkness,” the FIR added.

Narsinghanand is a controversial religious leader of Hindu right, who hails from the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and was amongst several other Hindutva leaders with ties to PM Narendra Modi led BJP, who delivered inflammatory speeches against the muslim community and Islam in India with the aim of inciting hatred and violence against the minority community.

He was arrested in one of the hate speech related cases and booked in more than twenty other cases for his controversial and hateful speeches against muslims and female politicians. Narsinghanand's original name is Deepak Tyagi and he is an engineer from Russia and worked in the UK before returning to India and joining the Dasna temple as a priest in 2007.

Arshid Shaikh, one of the petitioners, said, “Yati Narsinghanand is a repeat offender who is not only against Muslims but is a sworn enemy of truth and humanity. He has given hate filled speeches against Muslims and spoke in a derogatory language about women. His crimes against humanity must be punished and the FIR against him in Ahmednagar is a major step in prosecuting him for promoting enmity in the society,” he said. Police Inspector Jyoti Gadkari, incharge of Topkhana Police Station, has been appointed the Investigating Officer (IO) in the case.