Victim shaming, hate speeches and open threats: Monu Manesar is hailed as hero at Haryana mahapanchayats

The burnt remains of two men were found in Haryana’s Bhiwani on February 16. Their family members alleged that cow vigilantes were behind their abduction and murder.

After Manesar, another mahapanchayat was called by cow vigilantes in Palwal district of Haryana on Wednesday. In Hathin, more than 500 self-proclaimed gaurakshaks belonging to different organisations participated in the presence of members of the Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad joint general secretary Surendra Jain.

Members of several outfits from other states, including Delhi and UP, who also reached the Palwal mahapanchayat openly hailed Monu Manesar as their hero.

In the mahapanchayat, two resolutions were passed demanding CBI enquiry in the Bhiwani case and prosecution of policemen for accusing their action, leading to the miscarriage of the wife of one of the accused, Srikanth.

Surendra Jain made objectionable and inflammatory speeches from the stage saying “no one can touch Monu Manesar”.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad leader said, “We will not hand over Monu to the Rajasthan Police. Junaid and Nasir are criminals and there have been cases registered against them.”

ive previous cases of cattle smuggling were registered against Junaid while Nasir does not have a criminal record.

On Tuesday, a similar mahapanchayat took place at Haryana’s Manesar, where a lot support had poured in for Monu Manesar.

The mahapanchayat at Manesar also witnessed hate speeches, threat to victims’ families and abusive language against AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

When India Today contacted Manesar SHO Vijay Verma to ask him about controversial speeches made at the mahapanchayat, he said “Police have not found anything controversial or inflammatory at the mahapanchayat so far.”

These kinds of public events raise questions about the state’s law and order situation and suggest an extremely dangerous trend.

Prakash Singh, former UP DGP, told India Today that it is a dangerous trend and shows there is very little political will to enforce law of land in such cases. He added that people who are celebrating murder accused as saviours of religion and warning state police of consequences must be cut to size.

“That’s why police reforms are the need of the hour. Police officials shouldn’t wait for signals from political leadership sitting in state capitals before taking action against such people.”

At the Palwal mahapanchayat on Wednesday, several leaders from different outfits used derogatory words against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Most of the guests in this mahapanchayat said Nasir and Junaid who died in this incident were the culprits, and not Monu and his friends.

Member of a local outfit, Ram Sena, Gautam Kumar, said, “Cow is our mother and we worship her. It is our religious duty to protect cows and if someone kills them and hurts our sentiments, it is our duty to protect them, which was done by Monu and his friends but they did not kill Junaid and Nasir.”

Shiv Kumar, a worker from Bajrang Dal, asked what evidence did Rajasthan Police base their FIR against Monu and his friends without carrying out any investigation. Who is accountable for killing Srikanth’s child? he asked.

WHAT HAPPENED AT MANESAR MAHAPANCHAYAT

This mahapanchayat, also held in support of Monu Manesar, witnessed victim shaming, abusive language and open threats to the families of the victims.

One of the initial speakers at the mahapanchayat, Kulbhushan Bhardwaj, advocate and Hindu activist, not just blatantly abused Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi for “encouraging cow slaughter”, but warned Rajasthan Police of dire consequences if they entered villages of the accused to arrest them.

Then came Dharmendra, a Hindu activist who also runs a clinic. He took the mike in his hands and resorted to victim shaming. He suggested that the family of Junaid, one of the two Muslim men who was murdered, should be “tortured” so that they confess the truth that they murdered Junaid themselves to ensure Monu Manesar was framed in a false case so that cow smuggling could continue.

Other speakers also underscored how one of the two alleged murder victims had several cases of cow-smuggling pending against him and that suggested that they were not “saints”. An appeal was also made to youth to take jobs such as hair-cutting and fixing puncture from that particular community in a bid to deprive them economically.

While a banner at the venue hailed Monu Manesar as ‘Hindu pride’, a person, who wanted to speak against “hate spread” by right-wing groups, was immediately snubbed by the mahapanchayat.

Later, a committee was formed to aid the families of the accused and a fund was also set up. So far, more than Rs 1 lakh have already been collected for fighting the legal case of Monu Manesar and co-accused.