Ajmer Court Clears Dargah ‘Khadim’ and Five Others of Provocative Slogan Charges

An Ajmer court has acquitted all six individuals accused of raising the controversial “Sar Tan Se Juda” slogan from the gates of the Moinuddin Chishti Dargah following suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s derogatory comments about the Prophet in 2022.

Public prosecutor Gulam Nazmi stated that Ajmer Dargah ‘khadim’ Gohar Chisti, Tazim Siddiki, Farook Zamali, Nasir, Riyaz Hasan, and Moin have been acquitted in the case. However, he noted that the grounds for acquittal would only be clear after reviewing the court’s order.

“All accused have been acquitted under all sections. An appeal against the verdict will be filed after examining the order,” he stated.

The case was registered at Ajmer’s Dargah police station under relevant IPC sections for unlawful assembly, rioting, and provocation to break public peace, among others.

The FIR mentioned that Gohar Chisti provoked people with the slogan “Gustakhi-e-Nabi Ki Ek Hi Saza, Sar Tan Se Juda, Sar Tan Se Juda” using loudspeakers from a religious place. Roughly translated, this means, “There is only one punishment for insulting the Prophet – beheading.”

Chisti was accused of delivering a hate speech in the presence of police from the shrine’s main gate, known as Nizam Gate, on June 17, 2022, shortly before a rally by the Muslim community against Sharma’s remark. Chisti, the main accused in the case, was arrested from Hyderabad in July 2022.

Reacting to the judgment, BJP MLA Balmukundarcharya said in Jaipur that the acquittal was due to weak prosecution and called on the government to ensure that the accused were punished. He also demanded that the government file an appeal against the judgment.

Deputy Mayor of Ajmer Municipal Corporation Neeraj Jain claimed that the judgment resulted from an unfair investigation. “The investigation was conducted and a charge sheet was filed during the former Congress government’s rule. Due to an unfair investigation and weak prosecution during the former government’s time, the accused were acquitted,” he said.

Public prosecutor Gulam Nazmi mentioned that, apart from electronic evidence of the speech, eyewitnesses were examined. He claimed that the controversial slogan raised outside the dargah occurred shortly before tailor Kanhaiya Lal was murdered in Udaipur on June 28. Lal was killed by two cleaver-wielding men for allegedly insulting Islam in a social media post.

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