Drive to Ensure Muslims Don't Apply Mehendi on Hindu Women, UP Police Yet to Act

The FIR registered in the matter, however, does not mention the call for boycott of Muslim mehendi vendors.

A group of activists from a lesser-known right-wing outfit, Kranti Sena, were seen making rounds of busy market areas in Muzaffarnagar on 10 August.

(Photo: Piyush Rai/The Quint)

A video of members of the Kranti Sena conducting 'surprise checks' at a Muzzaffarnagar market to ensure that no Muslim man applies mehendi (henna) on the hands of Hindu women on the occasion of Hariyali Teej on 10 August has gone viral on social media, attracting severe criticism from all corners.

The video, showing a senior functionary of the outfit explaining the motive behind the checks, is being widely shared.

The organisation claimed: "Muslim men working at beauty salons entice Hindu women to trap them in Love Jihad."

A functionary said that they didn't find any Muslim employed at these shops during the checking and warned that the outfit will 'deal with it (any shop) in its own way if found otherwise'.

"Kranti Sena had announced that we shall not allow Muslim men to apply mehendi on Hindu women on the occasion of Hariyali teej. We conducted checks at markets in the Shiv Chowk and the Nai Mandi areas to see if Muslim men were applying mehendi. But we didn't find any," Manoj Saini, a man who identified himself as the state secretary of Kranti Sena, said.

"We appealed to the local shopkeepers to not employ Muslim men and they have assured us about the same. If somebody is caught, we shall deal with it in our style. Our men will be in the area to keep a check on this," he added.

Case Registered, But No Cognizance of Inflammatory Remarks

Initially, the Muzaffarnagar Police, in reply to a tweet on Wednesday, had claimed to have taken cognizance of the incident and said that an FIR was being registered. However, no information of any such FIR is out so far.

Meanwhile, an FIR was registered by a local vendor Prakash Chand for allegedly vandalising his cart, but the FIR does not talk about the act of the outfit calling for boycott of Muslim men applying mehendi on women's hands at stores and salons.

Prakash Chand filed an FIR under sections 147, 323, 504, 506 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Nai Mandi police station against 11 named and 20-25 unnamed people, including Saini.

Chand in his complaint alleged that the accused came to his cart and vandalised it. "I told them that I put up cart on the occasion of Teej. They got furious and destroyed my cart," he said in his complaint.

The Muzaffarnagar Police refrained to remark on why the inflammatory comments of activists of the Kranti Sena were not included in the FIR.

"We have registered the FIR based on the complaint we received. Appropriate action will be taken based on the findings during the investigation," Himanshu Gaurav, circle officer of Nai Mandi, said.