On February 20, last Saturday, the main market of Hauz Khas’ E-Block witnessed a bicycle rally led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members and supporters, across its lanes, right till Malviya Nagar.

Hauz Khas is a relatively posh neighbourhood in South Delhi, at a distance of 11.4 km from Connaught Place. During the cycle rally, slogans like “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram” were shouted. Newslaundry received a video of the cycle rally. (The person who shot the video wishes to remain anonymous, however, Newslaundry has verified the authenticity of the video.)

As it is clear from the video, many of the people present at the rally were holding BJP flags as they protested against “anti-nationals”. The lady seen rallying people against “desh drohis” is BJP leader Arti Mehra, representative of Hauz Khas ward in South Delhi. Mehra can be heard saying, “Vicharon ki abhiviyakti ke naam pe jis tarha is rashtr ka droh hua hai…taxpayers ke paise se yahan chaatr padhne aate hain aur voh jis tarhe ki bhasha ka prayog karte hain voh itna sharamnaak hai [the nation has been betrayed in the name of freedom of expression. Students come here and study due to the taxpayers’ money and the language used by them is shameful].”

All around people can be seen nodding their heads in agreement. Soon after Mehra asks the crowd to join her in raising slogans against unnamed traitors: “Desh ke gaddaron ko,” the crowd joins in, screaming, “nahi sahaenge, nahi sahaenge.” (We will not tolerate traitors.) Once the sloganeering dies down, Mehra says, “Tiranga humari aan hai, baan hai, shaan hai [the flag is our pride].”

On Monday, February 22, Newslaundry visited the Hauz Khas main market to speak to shopkeepers and workers to get their perspective on the rally. The market, like many other markets in affluent neighbourhoods in Delhi, consisted of a cluster of shops and stalls ranging from jewellery stores to magazine stands. However, after spending considerable time trying to talk to close to 30 shopkeepers and people present at the market, only four agreed to speak to us.

Islamuddin, a tailor working for a local shop, spoke hesitantly to Newslaundry. He remained cautious, while repeating the exact slogans that were used. It was only after Newslaundry asked if slogans like “gaddaron ko nahi sahenge” and “gaddaron ko phansi [hang the traitors]” were raised, that he confirmed that the crowd indeed chanted such slogans.

Most of the other shopkeepers stated that they weren’t present on that particular day and hence could not comment on the rally. Rakesh Kumar, a cigarette and paan stall owner, told us he witnessed the rally and that the crowd did not raise any objectionable slogans. “Kuch galaat baat nahi boli unhon ne [they didn’t say anything wrong],” he said. Having heard about the JNU row, he was of the opinion that the courts should in fact investigate the case against the students.

 According to Arti Mehra, BJP and its allies organised around 250 such rallies to promote nationalism in and around Delhi. We interviewed her on February 24 at her residence in Panchsheel Park. Mehra said the rally was part of BJP’s Jan Swabhiman Abhiyan to renew the party’s pledge for “integrity, unity and progress” of the nation. She asserted the fact that one cannot abuse the nation and that though she did not raise the slogan “gaddaron ko phansi”, the crowd around her did.

Many of these rallies were aggressive in calling on people to defend their nation. Ravish Kumar, senior-editor at NDTV, wrote a blog that commented on the way people were taking to the streets against students in JNU. “…with these shrieks, an air of dangerous and violent animosity towards the JNU was being fanned. I cannot give a count, but I can say for sure that such violent marches have walked through many a neighbourhood,” he wrote. While Ravish did not specifically signal out the BJP for organising such rallies, he does believe that this kind of public aggression is a result of a “social order emanating from a political order.”

Not just the BJP, the ABVP also took out a rally on February 24 against “anti-nationals” from Ramlila Maidan to Jantar Mantar. There the slogans ranged from the usual “Vande Matarm” to more radical cries such as “JNU ke gaddaron ko, goli maro saron ko [shoot the traitors at JNU].” Placards with slogans like “Jis ghar se Afzal niklega, uss ghar mein ghuske maraenge [if an Azal comes out of a house, we will get in the house and beat/kill]” could be seen during the rally, as captured in a photo by Scroll journalist Rohan Venkataramakrishnan.

Newslaundry contacted Saket Bahuguna, Delhi State Secretary of ABVP, to enquire about the Sansad March taken out by ABVP as well as the slogans raised during the event. When asked if slogans saying “ghar mein ghuske maraenge” were raised, Bahuguna mentioned that while ABVP did not officially raise these slogans, many people in the gathering were calling for similar action. According to Bahuguna, such cries were representative of the public anger caused by “anti-national” activities at JNU. He categorically mentioned that ABVP’s stance remains that no form of support to terrorists will be tolerated. When asked if such slogans could incite violence, Bahuguna disagreed. He said terrorists and terrorist sympathisers had to be dealt with strongly. According to a report in The Indian Express, Satendra Awana, President of Delhi University Students Union, addressed the rally and said, “If these people are not punished, then we as jagruk yuvaks [awakened youth] will enter their campus and shoot the traitors.”

When seen in isolation, these rallies calling to beat, kill or take revenge may not seem aggressive to the point of being dangerous. However, the sheer number of rallies and the violent pitch some of them assumed could very well lead to a worrying scenario. India is not unfamiliar with groups of people calling for violence against one or the other community. Need we remind ourselves that when egged on by political parties, it has led to 1984, 1992, and, more recently, 2002.