Kajal Hindustani, the Right-Winger Booked for Hate Speech in Gujarat, Gets Bail

Kajal Hindustani had allegedly delivered an incendiary speech during a Hindu community congregation organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) as a part of Ram Navami celebrations on 30 March in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath district.

(Photo: the Quint/Kamran Akhter)

A Gujarat court on Thursday, 13 April, granted bail to right-winger Kajal Hindustani who was sent into judicial custody for 14 days for allegedly delivering a hate speech that led to communal clashes in Gujarat’s Una on 1 April.

She was arrested on Sunday morning after she surrendered at Una police station. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Kajal on 2 April under sections 295A (acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), 153A (promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, language, etc.) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

She had allegedly delivered an incendiary speech during a Hindu community congregation organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) as a part of Ram Navami celebrations on 30 March in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath district.

After this speech, Una witnessed communal tension for two days, local police told the media. According to the police, there was also an incident of stone pelting between the two communities on April 1. An FIR was also lodged against the mob, Aaj Tak has reported.

But First, Who is Kajal Hindustani?

According to her Twitter bio, Kajal is an "entrepreneur, a research analyst, and a nationalist”. She has nearly 95,000 followers on Twitter, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kajal, whose former name was Kajal Shingala, describes herself as the ‘Lioness of Gujarat’ on her website kajalshingala.com. According to a report in Hindustan Times, she had changed her name because of her strong nationalist views. Quoting from her website, which has been inaccessible for the past few days, the report said that she "spreads awareness about the Indian culture and works for the human rights of Hindus."

Kajal, who calls herself a "social activist” on Twitter, has been seen participating in various events of right-wing organisations such as the VHP and the Bajrang Dal.

A resident of Jamnagar city in Gujarat, Kajal claims to have campaigned for the BJP during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. According to a report in Indian Express, Kajal had participated in BJP leader Om Birla’s Lok Sabha election campaign in Rajasthan in 2019. Birla had won the election and was subsequently elected the Speaker of Lok Sabha.

Kajal often appears on TV news channel debates, and is vocal about her identity as a “proud Hindu.”