An unidentified person on Monday threw ink at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh where he had gone to meet the family of the 19-year-old who was allegedly gangraped last month.
As Sanjay Singh came out of the victim's house in Hathras village after meeting her family, an unknown man threw ink at him. Police have detained the person.
A delegation of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, led by Sanjay Singh, met the family members of the alleged gangrape victim in Hathras on Monday.
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) October 5, 2020
When Sanjay Singh was about to speak to media persons from TV news channels after meeting the family, a man threw ink on his white kurta while shouting "PFI dalal wapas jao [brokers of PFI go back!]".
— Milan Sharma (@Milan_reports) October 5, 2020
The Popular Front of India (PFI), an alleged radical group, has been accused of funding some protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act that took place across the country earlier this year. The UP Police had earlier sought a ban on the organisation.
After the ink attack, Sanjay Singh sat in his car and left the spot immediately along with his supporters.
— Milan Sharma (@Milan_reports) October 5, 2020
Tweeting a video of ink smeared all over his face and kurta, Sanjay Singh wrote, "Yogi ji you are not a Thakur, you are a coward. You can file as many cases against me as you want, send me to jail, lathicharge me or even kill me but the fight for justice for the Hathras victim will continue."
MLA , “ ” pic.twitter.com/8DA9ln4ZYo
— Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) October 5, 2020
Visuals of the occurrence went viral on social media.
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) October 5, 2020
MAN ASSOCIATED WITH BJP BEHIND SANJAY SINGH INK ATTACK: AAP
AAP leaders have claimed that the accused is Deepak Sharma, a Hathras resident and self-styled Hindutva vigilante. He claims to be a member of the Rashtriya Swabhiman Dal, a right-wing fringe outfit. Sharma had gained notoriety in 2017 after a video of him beating up a young boy for making "controversial" memes went viral.
Then, Deepak Sharma had made several abuse-laden videos threatening people against making memes on his religion. After garnering outrage over his actions, Deepak Sharma backtracked and claimed he had made a fake video to send out a "message".
#WATCH: "It's a film with a message", says Deepak Sharma, man who posted video on Facebook thrashing a boy for making meme. pic.twitter.com/LATJtn3187
— ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2017
Several AAP members also shared photos of Deepak Sharma with BJP leaders Giriraj Singh and T Raja as well as Rambhakt Gopal Sharma, the gunman who fired shots in the air at Delhi's Jamia University earlier this year during the Jamia protests.
INK ATTACK ON SANJAY SINGH SHOWS DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT OF UP GOVT: ARVIND KEJRIWAL
Commenting on the ink-throwing incident on party MP Sanjay Singh, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal said that the attack was a result of Sanjay Singh's consistent protest against the "atrocities" of the UP government.
Taking to Twitter, Arvind Kejriwal said, "Sanjay ji, you have been speaking fearlessly against the injustice and atrocities of the UP government.
They filed 14 FIRs against you, sealed your office but did not dare to arrest you then so they attacked you today. This shows the defeat and disgraceful conduct of the people sitting in the UP government."
UP
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 5, 2020
14 FIR , UP
https://t.co/ANqmR0kZOO
"It means you're on the right track," Arvind Kejriwal told his colleague.
Echoing the same sentiment, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia wrote, "The rapists and the people of their party are afraid of the work done by Sanjay Singh. Hence, they file FIRs and throw ink on him to try and stop him."
. FIR . https://t.co/zeXTYuZKBQ
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) October 5, 2020
Sanjay Singh is among the several political leaders who have visited Hathras to meet the family members of the 19-year-old Dalit woman who died on September 29 after she was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men. Earlier Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi met the family of the victim. Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad has also visited the Hathras family.