Indian Hindu Leaders Call To Revoke Muslims' Voting Rights, Sterilize Muslims, 'Dig Up The [Bodies Of Their Deceased] Mothers, Sisters And Daughters... And Rape Them'

Sadhvi Deva Thakur (image courtesy: dnaindia.com)

The following are excerpts from statements by Indian Hindu leaders, who are broadly aligned with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Some of these leaders are Indian MPs.

It should be borne in mind that the BJP emerged from a Hindu nationalist core of Indian politics, which is espoused now by several Hindu interest groups such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bajrang Dal, All India Hindu Mahasabha, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Shiv Sena. All these groups are commonly seen as representing the interest of Hindus.

These statements by Hindu leaders targeting Muslims and also Christians are part of a pattern, though it can be argued that they are not part of the country's mainstream.

Hindu Leader Sadhvi Deva Thakur: "Muslims And Christians Will... Be Forced To Undergo Sterilization"

Sadhvi Deva Thakur is a leader of All India Hindu Mahasabha, a leading Hindu organization in India. On April 11, 2015, she demanded that Muslims and Christians in India be forcibly sterilized, as they were during Emergency Rule in 1975, when such forced sterilizations were carried out. The following are excerpts from a media report:[1]

"A leader of Hindu Mahasabha on Saturday [April 11, 2015] stoked a controversy saying Muslims and Christians must undergo sterilization to restrict their growing population which was posing a threat to Hindus.

"'The population of Muslims and Christians is growing day by day. To rein in this, Center [the federal Indian government] will have to impose emergency [rule], and Muslims and Christians will have to be forced to undergo sterilization so that they can't increase their numbers,' vice president of All India Hindu Mahasabha, Sadhvi Deva Thakur told reporters...

"She also exhorted Hindus to have more children and increase their population so as to have an effect on the world. In another controversial remark, she said that idols of Hindu gods and goddesses should be placed in mosques and churches. Thakur also came out strongly in support of installing a statue of 'patriot' Nathuram Godse [the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi] in Haryana [state near Delhi ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi]."

Indian Lawmaker Sanjay Raut: Late Hindu Leader Bal Thackeray Said That "Voting Rights Of Muslims Must Be Withdrawn"

Indian Lawmaker Sanjay Raut

Sanjay Raut is a member of parliament (MP) from the Shiv Sena, a political party that is part of the ruling coalition government headed by Prime Minister Modi. Shiv Sena, a Hindu interest party, is active in Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the state capital. In Maharashtra, an equally sectarian All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party led by Muslim leaders Asaduddin Owaisi and Akbaruddin Owaisi has been rising. On April 12, 2015 Sanjay Raut demanded in an article that Muslims be deprived of their right to vote. Following are excerpts from a media report:[2]

"The Shiv Sena on Sunday [April 12] demanded that voting rights of Muslims be revoked to prevent the community from being exploited by political parties for vote bank politics. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, in a column titled 'Rokhthok,' launched an attack against the challenge of the AIMIM, led by the Owaisi brothers, who campaigned during the recent Bandra East by-election [a region of Mumbai].

"Mr. Raut referred to the brothers as 'poisonous snakes' who exploited the dissatisfied Muslim community. 'Vote bank politics is being played in the name of fighting the injustice meted out to Muslims. Their educational and health status is being used politically. This politics was once played by the Congress and now every other person calls himself secular,' Mr. Raut wrote.

"'If Muslims are only being used this way to play politics, then they can never develop. Muslims will have no future as long as they are used as vote banks, which was why Balasaheb [late Bal Thackeray] once said that the voting rights of Muslims must be withdrawn. What he said then holds true.'

"The article also alleged that in the Bandra East by-poll, the AIMIM candidate had revealed how he was offered money to withdraw candidature and help prevent a division of Muslim votes."

Speeches At Rally Of Indian Lawmaker Yogi Adityanath: "When This Nation Becomes A Hindu Rashtra [Nation], The Muslim Will Be Turned Into A Second Class Citizen... Then His Voting Right Will Be Snatched Away"

Indian lawmaker Yogi Adityanath

On March 3, 2015, a video was posted on Indiatimes.com, the portal of the leading Indian daily Times of India, of an undated meeting organized by the Hindu organization Hindu Yuva Vahiniin the town of Siddharth Nagar; the chief guest was Indian lawmaker Yogi Adityanath, from Prime Minister Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. The video includes hate-filled anti-Muslim speeches that were delivered at the event. The following are excerpts from the speeches, as translated from Hindi:[3]

"The youths of Siddharth Nagar have now pledged not only that will the saffron [color of the Hindu groups' flag] unfurl on mosque minarets, but will also pledge today... that that the youth of Siddharth Nagar will not be still until at every mosque minaret in Siddharth Nagar, 'Allah-o-Akbar' is replaced by 'Har Har Mahadhev.'"

"The day this country, the day this nation, becomes a Hindu Rashtra [Hindu nation], [and] the day this nation goes into the hands of youth sanyasis [Hindu mystics/saints] such as Yogi Adityanath - that day, in this country, the situation of the Muslims will become the same as that of the Hindus in Pakistan."

"Today, in Pakistan, in temples, dharamshalas and mutts [Hindu religious places], sheep and goats are kept. [In Indian mosques], swine nurseries will be opened. When this nation becomes a Hindu Rashtra, the Muslim will be turned into a second class citizen. And when the Muslim will become the second class citizen, then his voting right will be snatched away. And when the voting right will be snatched away from the Muslim, then no leader of any political party who misleads the Hindu community by wearing the garb of secularism will be able to mislead Hindus."

"[Reporter:] Yogi Adityanath is practically implementing the principle of arming Hindus. Today in this region, members of Hindu Yuva Vahini [Hindu Youth Army] can be seen openly carrying weapons and terrorizing."

"Reporter: 'What is your name?'

"Youth: 'Sarath Singh Rawat'

"Reporter: 'Where do you come from?'

"Youth: '...Basti.'

"Reporter: 'What grade are you in [in school]?'

"Youth: '...Inter[mediate]...'

"Reporter: "You study in Intermediate [Class XI and XII]; why are you holding this sword in your hand?'

"Youth: 'So that when the country is attacked, to kill, whether it be a terrorist...'

"[The Muslim] has come from registan [the desert], Uzbekistan... [unclear], I tell you very clearly, friends, he couldn't become of his own country. That Muslim whose history is so dirty, who couldn't become of his mother, couldn't become of his father, couldn't become of his brothers, couldn't become of his sister, couldn't become of his behnoi [sister's husband], couldn't become of his naana [mother's father], dada daadi [father's father and mother], relatives; people of the Hindu community - he can never be yours."

"Today there is a need to dig up the [bodies of the Muslims' deceased] mothers, sisters and daughters from graves, and to rape them..."

Extremist Hindu Leader Pravin Togadia Urges Hindus To Occupy Muslim Homes, Says: "When You Go Out In Streets, Plan To Spit" On Muslims

Pravin Togadia

On May 8, 2014, MEMRI released a special report showing extremist Hindu leader Parvin Togadia urging Hindus to spit on Muslims and occupy their lands. Pravin Togadia is president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or the World Hindu Council. The following are excerpts from the report:[4]

"[From a report by the Times of India newspaper:] Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) president Pravin Togadia sent temperatures soaring in [the town of] Bhavnagar... with a hate speech that targeted Muslims for buying properties in Hindu areas. At night, Togadia joined a group of VHP and Bajrang Dal members in a street protest outside a house purchased by a Muslim businessman near Meghani Circle.

"While saffron [i.e. Hindu] groups have been regularly organizing 'Ram Dhuns' and 'Ram Darbars' to thwart such deals, Togadia went a step further by asking the protesters to take complete control of the house and put a 'Bajrang Dal' board on it. Togadia told the gathering that there were two ways to stop such deals. One is to pressure the state government to bring in the Disturbed Areas Act in Bhavnagar, which prevents inter-community sale of immovable property. The second is to take forcible possession of the house and fight a legal battle later, which will go on for years.

"He gave the Muslim occupant 48 hours to vacate the house. 'If he does not relent, go with stones, tires [used to set fires], and tomatoes to his office. There is nothing wrong in it. [The] killers of [former Indian Prime Minister] Rajiv Gandhi have not been hanged... There is nothing to fear and the case will go on,' Togadia told the charged-up gathering. 'I have done it in the past, and Muslims have lost both property and money,' he said.

"He also said that this election is the best time to pressure political parties to ensure the safety of Hindus. 'Don't be reluctant to pressure Congress or BJP for the sake of Hindus' safety,' he said. After the event was over, tension was palpable and police feared that the mob might attack the house. A team of policemen has been stationed outside the house to avert any trouble."

"[From a video clip of ABP television channel:] There is a conspiracy by Muslims in numerous villages and towns of India - that they first buy one house at a high price and after that at half the price the houses of Hindus; this is a part of a strategy. How can we stop this? There are two ways to stop this: one is that [a sympathetic] government enforce the Disturbed Areas Act; this was caused to be enforced in Ahmedabad and some other towns during the [secular] Congress rule after protests were organized [by Hindu extremist groups].When the Act is enforced, Muslims cannot buy houses in the areas of Hindus; pressure should be mounted for it on the government [as a tactic to enforce this law].

"The second path is: talk to some lawyer, occupy the house [of Muslims] and put up a Bajrang Dal board [sign] there. Occupy the house, put up the Bajrang Dal board, and let them fight [an unending legal case]. [Sounds of claps from the audience]. One cannot be hanged for illegally occupying someone's house. If they file a case, let them fight. If the killers of [former Prime Minister] Rajiv Gandhi could not be hanged, nothing will happen to us either...

"When you go out in streets, plan to spit [on Muslims]; don't you go out? One cannot be punished for spitting on someone. One cannot be punished if you throw tomato on someone. Whenever they come out of homes, 10-15 youth attack them with tomatoes. [Sounds of laughter from the audience]. By fighting on these two fronts [legal and practical intimidation], force them to accept that the occupation of the houses is with us, or to vacate and lose money...."

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