Last week, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan had called for the beheading of a Hindu priest through his verified Twitter account. Ever since lakhs of Muslims have called for the beheading of Dasna Devi Temple head priest Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati for his statements against Muhammad. Now, videos have surfaced where young children can be seen calling for the beheading of the priest, for committing the alleged ‘blasphemy’.
In a video that surfaced on Twitter, scores of children were seen calling for the beheading of Swami Yati. The children, who do not look a year older than 7 or 8, are seen carrying a poster of Swami Yati garlanded with footwears and raising “Gustakh-e-Nabi ki ek saza, sar tan se juda, sar tan se juda” (There is only one punishment for speaking against the Prophet and that is beheading),” slogans in the undated video.
https://twitter.com/SmokingSkills_/status/1381308771465498625?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwIt is pertinent to note here that Amanatullah Khan’s tweet calling for the beheading of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati was taken down by Twitter. Subsequently, the Delhi police filed a first information report (FIR) against Khan for fostering enmity and criminal intimidation. Despite these actions, Amanatullah Khan’s post has put the Hindu priest’s life at a huge risk. Ever since, Khan’s viral tweet, thousands of Muslims have been advocating his call.
Open slogans for beheading after Friday prayers
On April 9, after the Friday prayers, a larger number of Muslims gathered at the Islamia Ground in Bareilly, demanding action against Yati Narsinghanand. Amid the slogans to behead the priest, clerics gave a speech asking for his arrest.
Several Muslims shared videos of the incident on Twitter, where they referred to Yati Narsinghanand as a ‘Bhagwa Terrorist’.
On the same day, Balaghat Police in Madhya Pradesh arrested four men of the Muslim community identified as Mateen Ajhari, Kasim Khan, Sohaib Khan and Raza Khan for pasting posters against Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati on Jama Masjid Road in the city.
Muslims have been demanding action against Yati Narsinghanand after a video had emerged where he was heard criticising Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati was speaking at an event held at the Press Club of India where he had urged Hindus to be fearless in highlighting the characteristics of Prophet Muhammad.
In 2020, French schoolteacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by a Muslim man for sharing the Charlie Hebdo cartoons that had mocked Muhammad. In India, Kamlesh Tiwari, the former Hindu Mahasabha leader was brutally murdered in 2019 in his own house by a group of radical Islamists for his 2015 statements criticising Muhammad. Back in 2015 and early 2016, lakhs of Muslims had taken to streets in several cities of India, openly calling for the public beheading and murder of Kamlesh Tiwari. The slogans calling for murder were actively encouraged by Islamic leaders, politicians and Imams.