New Delhi: Haridwar hatemonger Yati Narsinghanand, arrested last month for organising an event in December that featured calls for the genocide of Muslims, was released on bail Thursday.
Disturbing visuals showed him receiving a rapturous welcome from followers as his SUV leaves the district prison compound. The car stops after crossing the gate and a beaming Narsinghanand steps out to be mobbed by saffron-waving men who fight each other to garland and take selfies with him.
He then drove to the town’s Sarvanand Ghat to resume a hunger strike demanding the release of a co-accused – Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi, who was Waseem Rizvi before he converted.
Narsinghanand spoke to reporters after leaving jail and declared that his release, without that of Tyagi’s, was meaningless, and announced his intention to protest till his associate’s release.
Narsinghanand was granted bail by a local court after he was arrested for making vile and hateful remarks at a ‘dharamsansad‘ he organised in Haridwar two months ago.
At the event Narsinghanand – who faces prior accusations of inciting violence with incendiary speeches – and others urged people to take up arms against Muslims and called for genocide.
“I am not ashamed of what I have said… I stand by my statement,” Prabodhanand Giri – seen often with BJP leaders, including UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Uttarakhand counterpart Pushkar Dhami – told NDTV in December.