Amid Covid Pandemic, Crowds In Jammu Gather To Chant ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ Against ‘Blasphemy’

On 23 April (Friday), a large crowd of the Muslim community gathered in the streets of Jammu to protest against Yati Narasinghanand Saraswati, a priest at a private temple in Uttar Pradesh who made statements critical of Prophet Mohammed earlier this month.

Ever since Yati Narasinghanand Saraswati made the statements, at a gathering inside Press Club of New Delhi, protests have been staged across the country over ‘blasphemy’. At most gatherings, slogans of “Gustakh-E-Rasool ki ek hi saza, sar tan se juda, sar tan se juda [There is only one punishment for speaking against the Prophet and that is beheading]” have been repeatedly raised. There have been several cases registered against Narasinghanand at various police stations across India. He has been called for questioning by the police, but has not been arrested. A person convicted under IPC section 295A – hurting religious sentiments – can get three years of jail sentence or a fine or both.

Read: Amid Pandemic, Fanatic Groups Are Carrying Out Rallies Against Blasphemy, Announcing ‘Jail Bharo’ Campaign, Raising Beheading Slogans.

The slogan calling for beheading was raised at the Jammu protest too.

A video report by Jammu-based publication Daily Excelsior shows a large crowd hitting posters of Narasinghanand with shoes, raising beheading slogans and carrying a large banner saying, “Islam is the religion of peace. Yati Narasinghanand Saraswati is a real terrorist in India”. Children can be seen participating in the protest and joining in the sloganeering.

The report shows a maulana introducing himself as Mohammed Akram, a resident of Gujjar Nagar in Jammu, where he says the protest is being held from the local Jama Masjid. Asked what the crowd is demanding, Akram says the government must arrest Narasinghanand and give him capital punishment.

As per a report by news agency PTI, the union territory of Jammu and Kahsmir is observing a complete weekend curfew from 24 April to 6 am on 26 April in the wake of a “surge” in coronavirus cases in the area. The report says that until Friday, 1,56,344 cases of Covid-19 had been recorded in the UT, with about 19 people dying daily off the disease.