Sudarshan TV is headed by Suresh Chavhanke. (File Photo) A Delhi court Thursday sought an action taken report (ATR) from the police on a plea filed against Sudarshan TV Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke for allegedly delivering communally divisive speeches at an event in southeast Delhi’s Govindpuri area.
The application was filed by Dr SQR Illiyas, president of the Welfare Party of India. His son, former JNU student Umar Khalid, is currently in judicial custody in a UAPA case related to the Delhi riots, in which a sessions court is hearing his bail application.
Metropolitan Magistrate Jitendra Pratap Singh of the Saket Courts has now posted the matter for further hearing on March 15.
The application mentions an event organised by the Hindu Yuva Vahini at Govindpuri Metro Station on December 19, 2021 in which the accused was “seen administering an oath” to a group of people to “die for and kill” to make India a “Hindu Rashtra” or a “Hindu Nation”.
The application sought the registration of FIR against Chavhanke for “giving speeches and making statements that are communal, divisive, incendiary and amount to hate speeches, with the knowledge that such incendiary remarks would have the propensity to stoke tensions inter se persons belonging to certain communities, and also would directly instigate violence”.
The application stated that Chavhanke’s statement “is a clear threat to use force and violence against the minorities in order to make India a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation)”.
It also stated that soon after the event, Chavhanke was further seen popularising a Hindi hashtag called “Ek hi Sapna Hindu Rashtra” from his Twitter handle which translates into “one dream Hindu nation”.
“That such tweets by the accused are a direct assault on the core values of the Constitution of this country, of secularism, equality and fraternity and intents to create enmity in the name of religion,” the application stated.
The application also stated that “no preliminary inquiry is required in the present case as the inflammatory, communal and hate speeches were made by the accused persons during public events and the videos of the same are in the public domain”.
It stated that it was imperative that action be taken against Chavhanke holding him responsible for the inflammatory statements and to prevent any act of incidents of violence.
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