Determine And Recover Loss Caused From Miscreants In Attacks On Ram-Navami Celebrations- Hindu Front For Justice Moves SC

Hindu Front For Justice, a registered Trust from Lucknow has moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to the concerned State Governments to determine the loss incurred by victims of violence by miscreants during the Ram Navami celebrations across the country and compensate the victims while recovering the loss from the miscreants.

The plea filed through Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain seeks registration of FIRs and action against the culprits who allegedly disrupted the peaceful procession of the Hindu community on Ram Navami day on March 30, 2023 and also, strict implementation of directions issued in the judgment of the Apex Court in Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India (2018).

The plea has been filed as an interlocutory application in the pending case of Qurban Ali & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors. which relates to hate speech. It was during the hearing of the said case that a Bench of Justice KM Joseph and Justice BV Nagarathna made some controversial remarks last week. 

The application moved by the Trust's president Ranjana Agnihotri states that the celebration of the Ram Navami festival is not liked by the section of the Muslim community as, every year in different parts of the country, the Hindu religious procession is attacked and violent acts are committed to breach the peace. The plea says, "the religious procession of Hindus is attacked in a pre-planned manner as a section of Muslims have hatred against Hindu festivals due to which such hate crimes are committed". 

A separate application has also been filed to implead competent authorities of the States of West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana and Jharkhand to the writ petition. 

It has been alleged in the application that on March 30, violence on a large scale has been committed by members of the Muslim community in different parts of the country by assaulting the Hindus and committing arson against them. It further states that stones were pelted and vehicles were damaged. The incidents are alleged to have been stated to take place in "Howrah, Uttar Dinajpur (State of West Bengal), Sasaram and Nalanda (State of Bihar), Hyderabad (State of Telangana), Aurangabad (State of Maharashtra), Vadodara (State of Gujarat) and Jamshedpur (State of Jharkhand)."

The plea alleges that a statement was issued by the Chief Minister of West Bengal asking Hindus to avoid taking the procession in Muslim-dominated areas. "Chief Minister of West Bengal –Ms. Mamta Banerjee had warned the members of the Hindu community for taking out any procession from Muslim-denominated areas as some area of the State has been earmarked only for Muslims and nobody can enter there", the plea says.

The plea alleges that such statements issued by the Chief Minister of West Bengal show her partisan attitude in favour of the Muslim community wherein on the contrary it is constitutionally permissible for Hindus to take out religious processions maintaining law and order situation through public roads, irrespective of the fact as to which community resides in that area. 

In its application, the Trust has relied on newspaper reports to highlight the alleged instances of hate crimes committed on the Ram Navami day in the following manner in different States:

A. In West Bengal in Howarah, Uttar Dinajpur, Islampur, etc., it is stated that the Chief Minister of West Bengal – Ms Mamta Banerjee had warned the members of the Hindu community for taking out any procession and that a Muslim mob ambushed and attacked the Hindu procession. It is stated that even on April 2, a Muslim mob committed arson and stone pelting in Hooghly, West Bengal in continuation of Ram Navami clashes.

B. In Maharashtra, Hindus were attacked in the Kiradpur area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and a Ram Temple in the area was targeted by the Muslim mob that set public and police vehicles ablaze and caused injuries to the people. A similar incident took place in Mavlani, Malad area of Mumbai.

C. In Bihar, in Sharif, Nalanda Hindu properties were looted and damaged and set ablaze. That a young boy named Gulshan Kumar was also killed in the Muslim mob violence on April 1. Similar incidents took place in Sasaram, Bihar.

D. In Gujarat, the Fatehpur area and other areas of Vadodara stones were pelted at Shobha Yatra being taken out on the occasion of Ram Navami. 

E. In Karnataka, the procession was attacked by a Muslim mob in which two Hindus were stabbed and two others were injured in Channarayapatana, Hassan District.

F. In Telangana, the procession of Hindus was attacked by an Islamist mob in the Charminar area of Hyderabad, Telangana.

G. In Jharkhand, in the Haldipokhar area of Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, stones were pelted at a Ram Navami immersion procession being taken out by Hindu devotees.

The plea is likely to be taken up on April 14, 2023.

Cause Title: Qurban Ali & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.