On March 19, 2014, I registered the following complaint with the Chief Election Commissioner against the Jinnah like inflammatory speeches and statements made by Aam Admi Party candidate, Yogendra Yadav during his election campaign in Muslim majority areas of Mewat in Haryana.
The Election Commission assured us that this complaint would be given serious attention but did nothing about it, possibly because they expected UPA to come back to power. Yadav being a blue eyed boy of Congress party was and continues to be above law.
He has been yearning for "rivers of blood" to flow on the streets of India. Since Narendra Modi has not obliged in this regard and NDA regime has prevented communal riots from becoming a routine, as they used to be during Congress regimes, bloodthirsty Yadav can be seen at every inflammatory protes and agitation led by the Break Up India Gang in the hope of triggering widespread violence and mayhem. He felt let down when Shaheen Bagh agitation collapsed and the rioters were swiftly brought to book, especially in UP. Now he is baying for blood at Singhu Border along with murderous Khalistanis and Maoists in order to let loose mayhem on the Republic Day.
Let's hope, Modi government recognizes the threat this mischief monger poses.
The Chief Election Commissioner,
Election Commission of India,
Nirvachan Sadan,
New Delhi
Dear Sir,
Subject: Complaint against Yogendra Yadav of the Aam Admi Party, candidate from the Gurgaon Lok Sabha constituency
The undersigned would like to lodge a complaint against Yogendra Yadav of the Aam Admi Party, for his communally inflammatory speeches while campaigning in Muslim majority areas of Mewat district during his current election campaign for the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat. We are lodging this complaint on behalf of Manushi. None of us are connected to the BJP or any other political party even remotely. Manushi is an independent platform for strengthening democratic rights and women’s rights in India.
The Model Code of Conduct laid down by the Election Commission clearly mandates that “No party or candidate shall include in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic.” It also mandates that “There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.”
Section 153 A in the Indian Penal Code, says that “Whoever (a) by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, promotes or attempts to promote, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill- will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, or (b) commits any act which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, and which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquillity,… shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to five years and shall also be liable to fine.]
Furthermore, Section 505 (2) in The Indian Penal Code, 1860 states: that “Whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement or report containing rumour or alarming news with intent to create or promote, or which is likely to create or promote, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
However, Yogendra Yadav in particular and his Aam Admi Party, in general, have been brazen enough to make very pernicious appeals that instigate Muslims against Hindus. Yadav has a long history of indulging in communally divisive games under the garb “socialist, secular” politics but we are confining ourselves to his recent statements while he was addressing Muslim gatherings in villages of Mewat because now he is crossing all limits. As evidence we are submitting the following news reports:
On 14th March 2014, The Indian Express published the following report under the title, “If Modi becomes PM, questions of the partition will come up again…one community will be thekedar, aag lag jayegi”. The report adds that Yogendra Yadav addressed a number of “nukkadsabhas” on Thursday, where he said that if Narendra Modi were to become the Prime Minister, questions relating to India’s Partition would be asked again….Yadav largely trained his guns on Modi and said the possibility that he would become the PM was a threat to the country. “It is not a danger just to Muslims or to Hindus, but to all of Hindustan.” *(Read: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/if-modi-becomes-pm-aag-lag-jayegi/ )
Yadav’s clarification published on 15th March 2014 in The Indian Express did not make things any better. He explained the statement attributed to him saying, that the headline, “If Modi becomes PM…Aag lag jayegi” is the result of the juxtaposition of two different statements” and that he was warning against the dangers of majoritarian politics where the voice of the voiceless and the issues of the marginalized sections get suppressed. …the communal and majoritarian interpretation of politics runs the risk of raking up long-settled issues of the aftermath of the country’s partition with disastrous consequences. He said that “the meaning got unfairly misrepresented due to joining of unconnected sentences in the headline and blurb on the front page.”
The Indian Express in its response has challenged Yadav’s attempt to wriggle out of his inflammatory statement saying:
At the crossing at Mahuchopra village Yadav said, “If he becomes prime minister, one community could become thekedaar, aag lag jayegi. We have seen Sri Lanka burn before, and India could too. We have to decide if we want to walk on Gandhi’s path or Modi’s path.”
This indeed was repeated by Yadav at various other stops during his Mewat campaign. At absolutely no point, were the words “aag lag jayegi” used in any other context other than Narendra Modi becoming Prime Minister. The story itself gives the entire context in which Yogendra Yadav said the words “aag lag jayegi.” Paragraph 4 of the story mentions the entire context in which he made the remarks. There is no unfair representation in the headline or in the story whatsoever.
Yadav is certainly not choosing “Gandhi’s path” by resorting to outright lies, divisive appeals and phobic politics. His choosing Mewat to make such statements betrays his real intent. This is the only Muslim majority region in Haryana. In retaliation to the ethnic cleansing of Hindus in regions that became Pakistan during the Partition of 1947, Mewat had witnessed very ferocious riots. When Mewati Muslims began fleeing to Pakistan, Mahatma Gandhi himself went to this region to douse the flames of revenge and pleaded with Muslims to return to their villages. Yadav admits this saying, “when there were so many fleeing, Gandhi came to Ghaseda village in Mewat, folded his hands and asked people not to leave and 70,000 people returned home.” But Yadav chooses to ignore that fact that Mewat region of Haryana has not witnessed any communal riots since 1947. Why then is Yadav instilling fear in the minds of Haryana’s Muslims? All because neither his community of Yadavs nor the Gujjars or Jats of Haryana are paying much attention to AAP? Yadav’s divisive rhetoric and hate campaigns have alienated Hindu voters. He is implying that those Hindus who vote for the BJP are committed to carrying out an ethnic cleaning of Muslims. Since AAP is fast losing its appeal among the general public on account of its irresponsible politics, Yadav is, therefore, trying desperately to consolidate the “Muslim vote bank” in his favour by cultivating a siege mentality in a region which has remained peaceful since 1947, through the best and worst of times.
However, in 2011, the tragic memories of 1947 were revived in Gopalgarh region of Mewat that falls in Rajasthan when under the Congress regime of Ashok Gehlot, a land dispute led to violent clashes between Gujjars and Mewati Muslims in which the latter were targets of murderous attacks by Rajasthan Police leading to the killing of 8 Muslims. (for PUCL report see http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Police/2011/gopalgarh.html)
In the last few years, Congress-ruled Maharashtra and Assam witnessed numerous riots; Samajwadi Party ruled Uttar Pradesh also recorded over 200 riots ever since Akhilesh Yadav became CM.
By contrast, Narendra Modi has ensured that Gujarat which used to witness scores of communal riots every year under previous regimes has remained riot free for the last 12 years. Narendra Modi did not allow any communal retaliation even after the terror attack on Akshardham temple which killed numerous Hindu devotees. Nor did he allow revengeful violence after serial blasts in cities of Gujarat.
The Supreme Court-appointed SIT has cleared Modi of all charges of complicity in the 2002 riots. Despite the most hostile scrutiny by media, NGOs and courts, Modi has remained unscathed for the last 12 years. He doesn’t even have an FIR against him. One of the signatories to this petition has spent a whole year studying Gujarat. Therefore, we speak with conviction based on solid evidence that far from being guilty of post-Godhra riots of 2002, Modi did all in his power to bring them under control within record time. Moreover, he has successfully bridged communal divides and worked for ‘inclusive development”.
By accusing such a man of creating mayhem against Muslims, Yadav is the lighting fires, where none exist while Modi has successfully doused communal fires in Gujarat. Yadav’s divisive appeal to Muslim voters amounts to instigating Muslims against Hindus by cultivating a false sense of victimhood and insecurity among Muslims. It is as good as threatening Muslims with riots if they do not vote for AAP or Congress party,
Had Yadav gone to Muzaffarnagar and made such a speech, one could still see some rationale in it, though we would still not have condoned it because that would amount to exploiting a vulnerable situation and widening the existing rift between Hindus and Muslims. Had Yadav gone to Assam and commented like this when lakhs of Bodos and Muslims were uprooted from their villages, one could still understand his rhetorical exercise. But Yadav has never campaigned in any place where riots actually took place. He did not even go to warn Muslims in Gopalgarh region of Mewat where communal violence took 9 Muslim lives in 2013.
We have no problem with Yadav and AAP Party acting as proxies of the Congress Party to combat BJP and its PM Narendra Modi. But to say that India can ever become a Sri Lanka for minorities or to project BJP as a party which undertakes ethnic cleansing of any minority, amounts to presenting a viciously distorted picture of India and its mainstream politics.
The bald truth is that none of the BJP ruled states—Madhya Pradesh under Shivraj Chauhan, Goa, under Manohar Parrikar, Chhatisgarh under Raman Singh and Rajasthan under Vasundhra Raje have witnessed any communal riots. Even Gujarat has experienced its first riot free 12 years under Narendra Modi. Communal and caste riots used to be endemic to Gujarat under Congress regimes.
The book, “Modi, Muslims and Media—Voices from Gujarat” is based on a year-long study of Modi’s governance model since 2001(copy enclosed). It clearly shows that Modi is being wrongly and maliciously targeted by the Congress party and its allies for his alleged role in the 2002 riots. The Supreme Court-appointed SIT has given Modi a clean chit. The Nanavati Commission’s interim report, as well as courts which have examined those tragic events, has not found the slightest trace of guilt on Modi’s part. As the evidence put together in the above-mentioned book shows, Modi actually brought the 2002 riots under control within record time. Yadav’s projection of Modi as a threat to Muslims is based on lies manufactured by Congress proxies like Teesta Setalvad and Shabnam Hashmi to pillory a man who they cannot fight politically.
Even though the Aam Admi Party claimed that it had come into being for the sole purpose of fighting corruption through enactment of Lokpal Bill, it has now made hounding BJP in general and Modi, in particular, its sole aim. Let them fight this battle by pointing out to real flaws, shortcoming and lapses in BJP regimes. But creating a siege mentality among Muslim for the sole purpose of garnering Muslim votes is to jeopardize India’s democracy and create a situation of civil war. This is particularly dangerous in an environment when a section of Muslim youth have taken to terrorism as a legitimate means of settling scores with the majority community because they have been misled into believing that Hindus in general, and those who support BJP in particular, are committed to carrying out genocides of minority communities.
As mentioned earlier, none of us are members of the BJP nor in any way close to the BJP or any other political party. However, we are deeply concerned about the unethical and divisive means being adopted by the Aam Admi Party to garner voters. They are feeding on the sense of insecurity of Muslims so assiduously cultivated by parties that claim to be “secular” by keeping the entire community hostage to fear and insecurity.
Yogendra Yadav and his Party are deliberately resorting to phobic politics and systematically communalizing the election arena by aggravating communal hatred among Muslims. All this amounts to a blatant violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
For narrow electoral gains, Yogendra Yadav is inciting the minority community with the same tactics that Jinnah once used to justify the creation of Pakistan. This is bound to create distrust and animosity among Hindus and Muslims, not just in Haryana but other states as well because AAP leaders are given excessive coverage in the national and even international media.
We have been told that ANI has covered Yadav’s meetings in Mewat. We urge the Election Commission to requisition the entire footage from ANI and take appropriate action against Yogendra Yadav for indulging in Jinnah like politics. In the interest of free and fair Loksabha elections starting April 10, 2014, it is imperative that timely and firm action is taken by the Election Commission against Yogendra Yadav. It will have a salutary effect on other disruptive elements within AAP and other parties.
Yours sincerely
Madhu Purnima Kishwar,
Founder President, Manushi
