The judges’ warning about a case brought by a Muslim assaulted for religious reasons in Uttar Pradesh without police intervention. On Sunday, from Jantar Matar, a Hindu cleric called for the killing of Christians and Muslims at a gathering of Hindutva movements. Father Mathew: “Will the governments of the nationalist right listen?”
New Delhi () – In a new ruling, the Indian Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the State cannot remain indifferent to crimes fueled by religious hatred. “If a crime of this type becomes known, it is necessary to address it directly and act quickly,” the judges wrote. “The actions of all State officials increase respect for the law.
The Court intervened following a complaint filed by a 62-year-old Muslim man, who stated that he was assaulted and ill-treated because of his religious identity in Noida in 2021. In his complaint, he complained that the Uttar Pradesh police had not intervened . The first report on the case was not filed until January 15, almost a year and a half after the incident, and only after the Supreme Court requested information from the police in an earlier hearing. The court then ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to submit a detailed report on the case, which will be heard at a forthcoming hearing on March 3.
“Hate speech is a very serious problem in India,” he explained to Father Anand Mathew, coordinator of the Sajha Sanskriti Manch, an alliance of social activists based in Uttar Pradesh: “Politicians and religious leaders openly utter poisonous words, which push people to indulge in violence. But the question is: will the governments of the nationalist right listen to the judges and take serious action?
Hate crimes in India have increased in frequency and intensity and also affect Christians. Precisely in the last few hours there was a commotion over a gathering of Hindutva-affiliated groups at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, during which a Hindu cleric expressly exhorted the crowd to kill Christians and Muslims. Then there are the recent cases of fanatics armed with clubs and iron bars breaking into the Sacred Heart Church in the Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh, and more than 1,000 tribal Christians driven from their homes in the villages near Narayanpur.
SVD Father Babu Joseph, former spokesperson for the Indian Bishops’ Conference, commented to : “The state’s apathy in dealing with these dangerous incidents is a sad commentary on its negligence in bringing fairness and justice to society. In a decent society, anyone who flouts the law is persecuted But in India, in too many cases, lawbreakers are released and even honored for various reasons. Meanwhile, hate speech is hate speech, regardless of who speaks it.”
