Swami Agnivesh was reportedly on his way to pay tribute to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Social activist Swami Agnivesh was assaulted on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg in New Delhi on Friday. He was reportedly on his way to pay tribute to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In a video, a group of people can be seen following Agnivesh down the road. At one point, he is pushed. A woman can also be seen raising her slipper at him.
BREAKING | Swami Agnivesh assaulted in DDU Marg, New Delhi pic.twitter.com/fqa9Y7ndk5
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) August 17, 2018
The incident comes a month after he was allegedly assaulted by a mob of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists in Jharkhand’s Pakur, where he was attending a programme concerning the Paharia tribe at the Littipara stadium. The social activist had claimed the attack was “state-sponsored”. The BJYM, meanwhile, had said that they had planned a protest against Agnivesh, but the youth wing activists were not involved in the assault.
After the assault, Agnivesh said: “I was told that people from BJYM and ABVP (students’ wing of the RSS) were protesting outside the hotel against me. I told them that they could come and talk to me about their objections. But nobody came.”
BJYM state chief Amit Singh told The Indian Express: “It is true that BJYM had a programme for showing black flags to Agnivesh, as we are aware about his views and see him as supporters of Naxals. I have seen the videos; our people are only shouting slogans. They are not involved in the assault. The reason why our people have been named in the FIR is obvious.”