On April 2, a video of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, a hardline Hindutva leader and chief priest at Dasna temple, Ghaziabad went viral. In the video, he can be seen abusing Prophet Muhammad while speaking at the Press Club of India.
Recently, a message on WhatsApp warning people of attempts by Yati Narsinghanand to incite communal violence in Delhi NCR did the rounds on social media. It said that all Imams of mosques should speak about peace after the Friday prayer and call for unity against violence.
On Friday, Muslims in several areas of Delhi registered a complaint against Narsinghanand in their respective police stations. Around 20-25 people had assembled outside the police stations in Jamia Nagar, mostly imams.
“Only responsible elderly people of the area have come today to protest against Narsinghanand’s statements against our beloved prophet,” one Imam of a local mosque told The Wire.
The police received their complaint and said that they will forward it to their senior authorities. The letter read, “As you may be aware, during a press conference, Narsinghanand Saraswati had disrespected our beloved prophet Muhammad in a way that cannot be written in this letter. This illegal and shameful act by Narsinghanand has immensely hurt the feelings of Muslim community.”
“This person calls himself a saint but abuses the prophet of Islam. Any amount of condemnation of this act is not enough. An FIR has also been filed against him but the police has not acted upon it.”