The Supreme Court asked for an undertaking from the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary.
A religious conclave in Uttarakhand's Roorkee should not devolve into a typical hate-fest to target Muslims, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday, as it also sent pointed questions to neighbouring Himachal Pradesh over a similar event earlier this month.
"If the hate speech is not stopped, the [Uttarakhand] Chief Secretary will be held responsible. We will summon the Chief Secretary to the court," the judges said, asking the state's top bureaucrat to place on record that no untoward statement will be made at the 'Dharam Sansad'.
"Follow the Supreme Court's guideline regarding hate speech. Take all steps necessary to stop hate speech," they added, ahead of the event scheduled for Wednesday.
A three-day Dharam Sansad held in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand's Haridwar last December had seen attendees give the vilest of hate speeches against Muslims, going as far as calling for their genocide, and brazening it out for days before the police registered any case made the first arrests.
In a separate hearing, the Supreme Court also posed searing questions to the Himachal Pradesh government over an event earlier this month that played host to hate speeches against Muslims and calls for Hindus to have more children.
"The government has to stop such activity. State government will have to let us know whether any preventive measures were taken or not," the court said, asked the BJP administration why it did not act immediately against incendiary speakers.
