Indian police investigate incitement to extermination of Muslims during Hindu gathering

The Indian police announced on Friday that it had opened an investigation into Hindu extremists repeatedly inciting the extermination of Muslims, during a large gathering held in early December in the northern city of Haridwar.

The state police of Uttarakhand (Uttarakhand) confirmed to AFP that they were “investigating the case” and vowed to take “strict measures against the culprits”.

This came against the backdrop of widespread resonance caused by videos circulated on social media and media sites, showing a number of extremist Hindus during the gathering, calling for the killing of Muslims.

In one of the videos obtained by AFP, a woman said: “Even if only 100 of us become soldiers and we kill two million of them, we will be victorious… You will only be able to protect the ‘eternal law’ (that is, the name given to their religion by Hindus). Insisting on going this way.

In another video, Prabhudanand Giri, the leader of a small Hindu group known for his ties to prominent members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, called the “BJP”, calling for a “purification” and urging attendees to “prepare to die or be killed”.

“As in Myanmar, the police, politicians, army and all Hindus in India have to take up arms and do this purge. We have no other choice,” he said.

In turn, a third person in the video expressed his regret that he had not killed the former prime minister and opposition “Congress” party member, Manmohan Singh, who was the first Sikh head of government.

The gathering was attended by at least one member of the ruling party.