Yati Narsinghanand, a religious leader who had organised the Haridwar ‘Dharam Sansad’ last month where calls were given for the genocide of Muslims, was sent to judicial custody for 14 days on Sunday, 16 January. Narsinghanand was arrested on Saturday.
The information was confirmed to The Quint by the CO (Circle Officer) City Office, Haridwar.
The office also confirmed to The Quint that Yati Narsinghanand was arrested not only for the Dharam Sansad hate speech, but also for his derogatory comments against women.
Earlier, reports had emerged that he had been arrested for his comments against women and not the hate speech that he had given at the Dharam Sansad.
Earlier on 13 January, Wasim Rizvi alias Jitendra Tyagi was detained by the Uttarakhand Police in Haridwar for making inflammatory statements against Muslims.
In a video of Tyagi’s arrest, Narsinghanand can be seen threatening the police saying, “Tum sab maroge (All of you will die),” reports said.
These two arrests come close to three weeks after the hate speeches made in the event had triggered a massive outrage.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday also issued notices to the Uttarakhand government, Centre and the Delhi on a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) filed by a former Patna high court judge and a journalist seeking a probe into hate speeches made against Muslims and Christians in two separate events – the Haridwar event that was organised by Yati Narsinghanand and another one in Delhi by 'Hindu Yuva Vahini'.
Controversies Surrounding Narsinghanand
Narsinghanand, a priest of the Dasna Temple in Ghaziabad, has been at the centre of many other controversies in the past too.
He is among the 10 others who have been named in the FIRs lodged against this Haridwar event where slogans were raised calling for violence against Muslims. The event was also attended by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay and and BJP Mahila Morcha leader Udita Tyagi.
Three FIRs had also been filed against Yati Narsinghanand last year for his remarks against women.
His misogynistic statements against female politicians, especially those from the BJP, went viral on social media and led to a strong backlash, even from BJP members like Kapil Mishra, who earlier used to collect money for Narsinghanand.
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