A petition has been filed in the Allahabad High Court seeking to restrain Yati Narsinghanand, a priest from Ghaziabad’s Dasna Devi temple, from making inflammatory statements against Prophet Muhammad and the Holy Quran. The plea, submitted by Mohammad Yusuf and Zakir Husain Mustafa Shaikh from Mumbai, also demands the deletion of Narsinghanand’s purported hate speech from social media platforms.
The petitioners argue that Narsinghanand’s rhetoric is creating a dangerous atmosphere which poses a threat to the stability of the nation and state systems. They have urged for immediate action to prevent further escalations that may disturb communal harmony. “From giving disputed religious statements over social media and print media, if any has been given, may kindly be deleted from the social media or electronic media,” the plea states.
The plea also calls on the Uttar Pradesh government to take legal action against Narsinghanand, labeling his actions as anti-national. Narsinghanand is no stranger to controversy, having been arrested in January 2022 for alleged hate speech against Muslims at a Dharam Sansad event in Haridwar. Though initially denied bail by a magistrate court, he was later granted bail by a sessions court on February 7, 2022. He has also faced charges for making derogatory comments about women and received bail in that case as well.
In addition, in 2023, the Supreme Court issued a notice to Narsinghanand regarding a contempt of court petition following his disparaging remarks about the judiciary, filed by activist Shachi Nelli. More recently, Thane Police charged him for an alleged hate speech delivered at Hindi Bhawan in Ghaziabad on September 29 of this year.
