The All-India Lawyers' Association for Justice (AILAJ) has filed a complaint with the Director-General of Police in Karnataka and the Superintendent of Police in Tumakuru district demanding that an FIR be filed against Basavaraj, the Karnataka Convenor of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Ullas, the state secretary of Hindu Jagaran Vedike for their provocative statements, which the lawyers’ body says amount to incitement to violence. AILAJ is an association of lawyers, legal professionals and law students across India and has sought police action against the two Hindu leaders’ provocative statements made in Tumakuru district.
Quoting a report by Public TV, the AILAJ has cited that there are videos of Basavaraj where he has claimed, "I am giving a warning to all goonda bad Muslim jihadis, if Hindu community hold weapons in their hands, there won't even be any place to bury you. We are giving you a warning in this fashion. Listen, you of Hindu community."
The letter to the Karnataka police also quotes a Deccan Herald report about the remarks by Ullas, where he had claimed, “We will resort to violence, if need be, to protect Hindu Dharma. We will teach Jihadi terrorists' a lesson. A young brigade will be formed to counter any attack on dharma and the nation.. Organisations like SDPI and PFI have continued their assault on Hindus. After then CM Siddaramaiah withdrew criminal cases against PFI activists, many Hindu activists were murdered."
The AILAJ has stated in the letter that the remarks by the two Hindu leaders “entirely upsets the fabric of secularism and fraternity in society.”
“The statements of Shri Basavaraj and Shri Ullas also amount to provocation with intent to cause riot punishable under section 153 and promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony punishable under section 153A (of the Indian Penal Code). These statements also are prejudicial to national integration and hence punishable under section 1538. The actions of the unlawful assembly also amount to public nuisance punishable under section 290 IPC,” the letter by AILAJ says.
The letter also points out that the remarks were made at public events for which permission was not granted by the police. The letter adds that as per a Supreme Court judgment, non-state actors cannot be allowed to take the place of law or law enforcing agency.
“The actions of those gathered amount to an illegal assembly punishable under section 143 of the IPC,” the letter by AILAJ says. “Moreover, since police asked those gathered to disperse, the actions would also be punishable under Section 145 of the IPC,” it adds.