India: Hindu fundamentalist arrested after calls for genocide against Muslims
Last December, leaders of Hindu groups held a rally in the holy city of Haridwar and called for taking up arms to kill Muslims and establish a Hindu state (illustration image).
AP - Karma Sonam
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
The fundamentalist had made his statements at a meeting of religious extremists a month ago in the state of Uttarakhand.
They have frozen a part of Indian society, but have remained unpunished until now.
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With our correspondent in Bangalore,
Côme Bastin
The man arrested on Thursday is named Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi.
He was a Muslim and changed his name after converting to Hinduism from fundamentalists.
He participated in speeches calling for genocide and the boycott of Muslims, although it is not possible to know what exactly he said.
This first arrest was expected.
It comes as
the Supreme Court
this week ordered the state of Uttarakhand to take action against the participants.
The police have indeed remained largely passive since this
public call
to arms against Muslims.
Some videos even show officers laughing with the speakers.
Another rally planned
Many participants, however, remain at large and refuse to go back on their statements.
Like Yati Narsinghanand, an extremist monk who started a hunger strike to protest against this arrest.
On Friday, he threatened the police with death and said he did not recognize the Indian Constitution or the Supreme Court.
Another gathering of this movement, called Dharma Sansad, is scheduled for January 24.
It has not yet been banned by the authorities.
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To read also: In India, a year marked by the growing repression of religious minorities
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