Thousands of people sat in the afternoon sun on green mats chanting loudly “Jai Shri Ram” in support of Bajrang Dal member Monu Manesar and other Haryana residents accused of killing Junaid and Nasir, two Muslim men from Rajasthan who were reportedly killed by cow vigilantes last week.
The event was a “Hindu mahapanchayat” at the Anaj Mandi on Wednesday in Hathin town, Palwal district, in favor of Monu Manesar and the other accused. There was a significant police presence at the gathering, with hundreds of officers stationed there.
“We all have to become Monu, Rinku, and Shrikant and do this work, and a strong Hindu society will take shape,” local Bajrang Dal leader Munish Bhardwaj said. “Hum sabko Monu, Rinku, Shrikant banke yeh kaam karna padega and majboot hokar ke ek saath Hindu samaj khada ho jayega.”
Others called the case “false,” accusing gau rakshaks of being involved in a “conspiracy.” (cow vigilantes). Additionally, they demanded that the CBI take over the investigation into the deaths of the two Muslim men.
The first Hindu mahapanchayat in favor of the accused was held in Manesar on Tuesday. This was the second one to be organized in Haryana.
Residents of the area as well as members of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad were present.
Five of our people have been wrongfully accused in the case, and Bhardwaj declared that his group was prepared to battle the Rajasthani government and shed blood if necessary to defend these religious leaders.
“In Mewat, our gau mata (cow mothers) are being killed,” he continued. Please pay attention to us if you label gau rakshaks “gundas” (goons). Gau rakshaks will take to the streets if the government fails in its duty.
Manesar, Shrikant Pandit, and Rinku Saini, according to other speakers at the mahapanchayat, were named in a “false FIR” as a result of their attempts to stop the “cattle smuggling nexus operating along the Haryana-Rajasthan border,” they claimed.
Arun Zaildar, a local khap leader, called for a total ban on cow slaughter and cautioned Rajasthan’s police against making the problem political.
“Monu Manesar is a cow protector, and in order to protect cows, he has taken these jihadis’ bullets.” (cow smugglers). Monu is not a gangster; rather, he gave his life to defend cows, according to Bharat Bhushan, another Bajrang Dal member from Haryana.
Former BJP district head in Gurugram Kulbushan Yadav publicly warned the Rajasthan Police, saying, “If anyone even raises an eye at the family of Monu Manesar, we will pull their eyeballs out.”
Surendra Jain, joint general secretary of the VHP, slammed the state police and the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress administration in Rajasthan, declaring: “The case has been deliberately registered in Rajasthan so that the police can commit genocide at Gehlot’s behest.”
The two Muslim men who were slain, according to him, were “cow smugglers” who had cases against them and a reward on their heads. On Wednesday, he said in an interview with ThePrint, “Two skeletons were discovered in Bhiwani, and without further investigation, it was said that they belonged to these two individuals. Then Bajrang Dal was brought into the conflict. If you read the FIR, it reads like a movie script. The five defendants in this case are not all Bajrang Dal members. But we will accept anyone who stands up for Hindutva.
Jain issued a warning to the Rajasthan Police during the meeting not to conduct any searches of the accused’s residences. Avoid making the same mistake or you’ll have to sprint backwards, just like yesterday in Manesar.
Jain was making reference to a previous Hindu mahapanchayat where speakers cautioned the Rajasthan Police to capture the fugitive Monu Manesar at their own peril. The gathering happened at the same time as short-lived raids on Monu’s Manesar home by a squad of Rajasthan Police.
Speakers at the mahapanchayat in Palwal insisted that no arrests be made until the investigation into Junaid and Nasir’s deaths was finished in addition to calling for the transfer of the investigation to the CBI. Additionally, they demanded an apology from Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan, for “targeting cow vigilantes and Bajrang Dal members.”
Jain claimed that the Rajasthan Police “assaulted” Shrikant Pandit’s family, resulting in his expectant wife losing her unborn child. Raginis (folk songs) to lament the loss of the unborn child came next.
At three in the morning, police arrived at Shrikant’s residence. They assaulted his father, two siblings, and mother, and they pushed his pregnant wife to the ground, killing her unborn child. The Rajasthan Police are not embarrassed and are denying ever entering the home. The mahapanchayat is the outcome of the nation’s ire, according to Jain.
He (Monu) is an innocent man who has aided the Haryana Police crack down on cow smugglers, said Gaurav, a local resident who had come to the mahapanchayat to express his support for Monu Manesar. As the cow is our goddess, it is my responsibility to stand with him.
