A Hindu activist questioned the legality of a Mazaar, and SHO Bhardwaj threatened him with legal action

Taking Muslim appeasement to new heights, SHO Bhardwaj of Adarsh Nagar, New Delhi has found himself in the midst of a raging controversy. On August 2, O News published a video where an aware 26-year-old Hindu activist named Vijay Gadaria and most importantly a resident of the city was seen putting forth his point in front of a Muslim man named Sikander for the illegal Mazaar built on the Azadpur flyover.

While the conversation was civil, SHO Bhardwaj chimed in and through his elaborate English-speaking skills tried to superimpose himself on the situation. He started threatening the Hindu activist with legal action and later sent him with his posse of Policemen.

“Who gave you the right to pressurize Indian citizens like this. If you want to take any action, take the legal recourse.” said the SHO before adding that as per the Supreme Court ruling, the Government of Delhi had enacted a religious committee to take action on such complaints. “If this gentleman has any problem, he should submit an application to the Delhi government.”

The cameraman who was shooting the scene was pushed away and could be heard saying, “Why am I being punished?”. Later, in the shaky video, it can be seen that Vijay is forcefully whisked away by the police officers. When Vijay questions the SHO about the recent temple levelled in Chandni Chowk, the latter once again warns him of legal action and states, “You cannot bully any religious person like this.”

It is pertinent to note that when confronted about the Mazaar, Sikander, the supposed caretaker of the structure stated that it was in existence ever since the year 1982 when the Asian Games were held. He claimed that his ancestors who were long dead now had told them this. However, the truth of the matter is that the Mazaar could not have been built in 1982 as the flyover didn’t exist at the time.

The flyover was built in the lead up to the 2010 Commonwealth games and opened a year earlier in 2009. People have complained of heavy traffic jams due to the allegedly illegal construction, but the administration has failed to take any action. As soon as the video went viral, the netizens started questioning the SHO for his lopsided view of maintaining law and order. People started trending hashtags such as #ArrestSHO and #RemoveSHObhardwaj to show their anger.

The said flyover is not the only public space where such an incident has come to light. There have been numerous instances across the country where such Mazaars have mushroomed overnight. In March earlier this year, a Muslim man named Tahir was found constructing an illegal Mazaar in someone else’s field in the Imratpur Udhaw village of Moradabad District, Uttar Pradesh. When nabbed, Tahir claimed that he was forcefully encroaching Sunderlal’s land because a “Pir Baba came to his dream and ordered him to build a mazaar” in Sunderlal’s fields.

As reported by TFI recently, after the Yogi government razed an illegal mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki, propaganda portal The Wire published a news story claiming that the mosque was destroyed and desecrated by the authorities. As a result, the Police had to register an FIR against ‘The Wire’ and its three journalists for spreading animosity and disturbing communal harmony in the society by disseminating misinformation.

The phenomenon of constructing illegal religious structures is not limited to North India. The southern states where alleged anti-Hindu parties like the DMK and the LDF are in power have also given a free hand to missionaries to go about their business and establish Churches wherever they like. In microcosm, what the SHO did in the situation was exactly how political parties across the country work when it comes to Muslim appeasement. Hindus are punished for raising valid points but the minority community is mollycoddled and given a love-infused, kind and gentle treatment.