Jantar Mantar Anti-Muslim Rally: BJP Leader Ashwini Upadhyay Gets Bail A Day After His Arrest

A court in Delhi on Wednesday granted bail to BJP leader and Supreme Court lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay a day after he was arrested for organising a rally in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, where genocidal threats calling for the killing of Muslims were shouted by mobs.

The police had arrested Upadhyay and five others on Tuesday morning. The five other men were identified as Deepak Singh, Vinod Sharma, Vineet Bajpai, Preet Singh and Deepak Kumar. They have been charged with promoting religious enmity and Section 51 of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority Act for violating Covid-19 protocols.

In the videos of the event, a mob can be seen chanting slogans like, “Jab mulle kaate jayenge, Ram-Ram chillayenge (Muslims will chant Ram-Ram when they will be slaughtered).” Another slogan raised was “Hindustan me rehna hoga, Jai Shree Ram kehna hoga (You will have to chant Jai Shree Ram if you want to live in India).”

Upadhyay had called for the march to demand an end to “colonial-era laws” by setting up a uniform civil code in the country. The organisers had not taken permission for the event.

The public prosecutor told the court that the gravity of the offence and the pandemic situation have to be considered, Bar and Bench reported. “It was an unlawful assembly,” he added. “Even if in his presence, somebody has given hate speech…”

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing Upadhyay, said the BJP leader was not present in Jantar Mantar when participants were shouting inflammatory slogans. Upadhyay was in Ghaziabad, he claimed.

The prosecutor, however, said that Upadhyay was a speaker at the event. “His version is that he had left,” the prosecutor said. “When he left is a matter of investigation. There is no evidence as such that he left. It is their version. Exactly what is the nexus, who gave the speeches? We are at a nascent stage of the investigation.”

Upadhyay’s bail invited instant ridicule on social media.