NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has affirmed that friendship and harmony between communities are essential and hate speeches cannot be tolerated under any circumstances. Calls for the social exclusion of any religious group are unacceptable. A bench comprising Justices Sanjeev Khanna and S V Bhatti stated that all communities share the responsibility in this regard. The Supreme Court was reviewing a Public Interest Litigation filed by Shaheen Abdullah seeking a ban on hate speeches and rallies in Haryana following the conflict in Nuh.

The court proposed the formation of a committee led by the Haryana Director General of Police and consisting of station house officers to address the issue in Nooh. On August 18th, Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj was requested to present the government's stance. Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj conveyed that the central government does not endorse hate speech. It was also noted that measures to prevent such speeches are ineffective in some places.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal representing the petitioner highlighted that hate speech is occurring in the presence of the police. The court instructed the petitioner to provide the nodal officer of the state with video footage and other evidence related to the hate speech.

The Haryana government informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the demolition of buildings in Nuh was not connected to ethnic cleansing. Additional Advocate General Deepak Saberwal stated that legal procedures have been completed.

Denial of ethnic cleansing claims

On August 7th, another bench of the High Court criticized the demolition of buildings belonging to a specific community carried out in the name of law and order without any official order or notice. The bench led by Justice G S Sandhawalia inquired if the state government was engaged in ethnic cleansing. They also ordered the suspension of the bulldozer operation. However, the case was heard by a different bench yesterday. Given its nature as a public interest petition, the High Court directed that it be transferred to a bench presided over by the Chief Justice.

Extension of internet ban

The district administration has extended the internet ban in the conflict-affected areas of Nuh until Sunday. Schools reopened yesterday.

So far, 393 individuals have been arrested in connection with the clashes, out of which 118 are in custody. Haryana's Home Minister Anil Vij also revealed that 160 cases have been registered. The riots related to the VHP rally resulted in the deaths of six individuals. Mukesh Kumar, the resident editor of Sudarshan News Channel has been apprehended by the Gurugram cyber station police for allegedly posting misleading tweets.