Islamophobic Remarks :
Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati is an Islamophobic Hindu militant who incites hate speech. He is also a priest at the Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Saraswati states that he worked in London and attended school in Russia.
His murderous remarks against Muslims and Islam are well known. His thoughts and films are shared by millions of people on social media, garnering a horde of right-wing admirers.
Since taking over as the Desna temple’s top priest, he has barred Muslims from entering and put up a sign that reads, “This temple is a holy place for Hindus, entry of non-Hindus is restricted.” Despite coming from Ghaziabad, he has cemented his position in Delhi’s overt and covert Hindutva networks thanks to his ties to BJP officials and his overtly anti-Islamic remarks.
At a news appearance in New Delhi in 2021, Saraswati made disparaging remarks about Prophet Muhammad. After he made hate speech and faced intense pressure from the Muslim community, Delhi police filed several charges against him for offending religious feelings.
Before February 23, 2020, Saraswati incited Hindutva militants pro Delhi and gave a number of hate speeches directed towards Muslims. This led to a pogrom in which 53 people—mostly Muslims—were slain.
In his hate speeches, he made reference to the demonstrators—the majority of whom were Muslims—who were opposing the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and said things like:
“I appeal to all you young people, these Muslims who keep coming out [on the streets], they should find out what will happen to them the day we come out. And I would like to tell Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, please don’t worry, we are all with you. You have brought the CAA, now bring the National Register of Citizens and after that put a stop to the population of the ‘katuon’. If these swine increase their numbers, they will spread filth, so to save this country from filth and dirt, please bring a law to stop their population, we will support you,” he told a crowd on December 25, 2019.
“They (Muslims) thought they can increase their population and capture the country. But Modi ji and Amit Shah have brought this law and smashed their dream. I urge them not to step back but go forward with NRC, uniform civil code and then a population control law,” he said in a another speech before the riots.
His Desna temple made national news when a 12-year-old Muslim kid entered the building to get water and was severely beaten by a Saraswati devotee.
When Narsinghanand visited Delhi in April 2021, he gave a news conference and disparaged Islam and the Prophet Muhammad with foul words. He bemoans the fact that Muslims in India were not driven out or eliminated after the split and refers to APJ Abdul Kalam, the country’s previous president, as a “jihadi.” In order to commemorate the Hindu holiday of Chaitra Navratri, the World Hindu Council of America (also known as the Viswa Hindu Parishad of America, or VHPA) declared that month that they would be hosting a number of religious lectures. The featured speaker for these programs, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, was slated to talk from April 13–21. Later, the event was canceled due to US public uproar.
In various speeches, he has called Muslims “demons”, threatens to “eliminate” them and says he is striving to create an India “free of Islam”.
Three complaints were filed against him by the Uttar Pradesh state police in September 2021 for insulting women following the viral video showing him calling female politicians the mistresses of their male counterparts.
In Haridwar, Uttarakhand, on December 17–19, 2021, Saraswati co-organized the Hindu Religious Parliament, or Dharma Sansad. Speakers and monks supporting Hindu supremacist ideologies not only depicted Muslims as a violent threat to Hindus, but also argued that the only way to end the conflict was to arm Hindus and execute Muslims.
“If a Muslim becomes the prime minister of India, in the next 20 years, 50% of all of you will change your religion…40% of Hindus will be murdered. Ten percent of Hindus will give their sisters and daughters to Muslims, will live in refugee camps or abroad. This is the future. If you want to change this future, then become men. Become men. Who is a man? He who has a weapon in his hand…The amount of man a woman bears for her husband and mangalsutra is the love a man bears for his weapons,” Yati said at the dharm sansad.
He was also one of several speakers who employed the anti-Muslim movie The Kashmir Files as a unifying device. “Have you watched The Kashmir Files? If you don’t want Hindus and Muslims to fight, then Muslims should abandon their women and possessions and drown in the Indian Ocean,” stated Narsinghanand. There is only this route left for you [Muslims].
Narsinghanand has previously been connected to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) apparatus, claiming on record that Yogi Adityanath “saved him” when he was about to be charged under the Goonda Act. As of April 2, 2022, Ghaziabad SSP Pawan Kumar, who had suggested that he be charged under the Goonda Act, has been placed under suspension; Navneet Sehgal, the additional chief secretary (information), claims that Adityanath gave the order for this to happen. He also has ties to a number of other prominent Hindu nationalist BJP figures, such as Giriraj Singh and Kapil Mishra.
“Eat those who eat the cow. Buy the best weapons you can. Be ready to kill. We are in the midst of civil war with Muslims.”
“Those we call Muslims in our current era were called demons in earlier eras.”
“We cannot find words enough to praise Nathuram Godse ji. I consider Veera Savarkar ji and Nathuram Godse ji as my biggest heroes.”
“Muslims around the world are celebrating because a Hindu lion has been killed and all our homes are mourning. I am telling each one of those bastards (Muslims), if I don’t make you mourn the way Kamlesh Tiwari’s house is mourning today, then I am not my father’s son. As long as I am alive I will use weapons. I am telling each and every Muslim, we will eradicate Islam from the country one day.”
Sources :
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-59952851
https://thewire.in/communalism/delhi-riots-conspiracy-anti-muslim-cleric-yati-narsinghanand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygtOpkr52eU