The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday submitted a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), New Delhi against Delhi government minister Rajendra Pal Gautam, stating that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader had tried to provoke the general public against Hindus and incite a riot.
Earlier, Gautam’s video went viral, in which he, along with hundreds of people, is seen taking the oath of renouncing the Hindu religion at central Delhi’s Ambedkar Bhawan.
In his complaint, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta demanded action against Gautam under sections 153A, 1538, 295A, 298, 505, and 506 of the IPC.
“The above-mentioned Sabha was organised under the aegis of AAP and their concerned leaders where some oaths were administered which continuously demeaned various Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Subsequently, everyone was asked not to follow Hinduism, considering it to be a bad religion,” Gupta alleged in his letter.
“It is evident that such speeches were made with an obvious motive to provoke people to incite violence and promote enmity on religious lines,” he added.
Gupta, in his complaint, also alleged that Gautam worked at the behest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. “These social media posts are created with the obvious motive of inciting violence and promoting hatred against Hindutva and Hindu religion, which subsequently is motivated to provoke them, thereby constituting various criminal offences enshrined in the Indian Penal Code and other penal provisions of Indian law,” Gupta said.
Gupta also stated that during the Anti-NRC protests held in Delhi, the same tactics were used to incite violence by the AAP leaders, which were later unearthed by Delhi Police during the investigation. And now that everything is peaceful, they are trying to disrupt the peace all over again using the same modus operandi, he added.
Commenting on the incident, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said that the act committed by Gautam is an insult to Hinduism and Buddhism. Tiwari said Gautam tried to incite violence while demanding his removal from the AAP.
It is not the opposition who are training their guns on Gautam. It was learnt that many senior leaders of AAP, including the party’s national convenor and Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, are also unhappy with him.
In his defence, Gautam, cabinet minister of social welfare, SC and ST department, said that he had done nothing wrong as he is a believer in the Buddhist religion.
“I have faith in Buddhism. The Indian Constitution gives us the right to follow any religion. What is the problem for the BJP? The BJP itself is an anti-national party. I don’t fear if they file an FIR against me because I have done nothing wrong,” Gautam, who is also the cooperative minister, said.