Activist Saket Gokhale, on February 1, said that Delhi Police had granted him permission to hold a rally chanting “desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro s**lon ko.”
However, around half an hour later, Gokhale tweeted that the police had informed him that the slogan would be “problematic” in view of the ongoing Model Code of Conduct.
He added that he had been requested to move the protest to after February 8 — the day Delhi heads for Assembly polls.
Update: I just received a call from ACP HAX cell saying that the slogan “will be problematic” in view of the ongoing Model Code of Conduct.I’ve now been “requested” to move the protest to after 8th February.
If this is indeed a violation, why isn’t Anurag Thakur arrested?
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— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) February 1, 2020
Posting a copy of the letter he had sent the police on January 28 to seek permission for such a rally Gokhale said on Twitter: “The @DelhiPolice has, shockingly, granted me permission to hold a rally chanting “desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko.” The permission was given to me today when I visited Parliament St. Police Station. This chant now, it seems, has state sanction.”
“At the police station, all they kept asking me constantly was - is this against the CAA? I said no - it’s against communal forces & the incident at Jamia. And like I wrote yesterday, they assumed the rally was “against communal forces at Jamia,” Gokhale had said in another tweet.
Gokhale added that he had no intention of holding such a rally. “I only wanted the police to give in writing what they think of this reprehensible slogan,” he had said.
“Legit protests don’t get permission. But this shockingly does. How is this ok, Delhi Police?” he had questioned on the micro blogging site.
Gokhale claimed that he would be taking the matter to court. “Let the Delhi Police answer if Maanyavar has now ordered them officially to allow people to chant such slogans in contravention of the law. This will be interesting,” he said.
On January 28, Gokhale had sent a letter to the Delhi Police, seeking permission to organise a peaceful protest on February 2 and raise the slogan "desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko" (which, when translated, means shoot the traitors of the nation) against communal forces.
Explaining the intent behind his move, he said: "This is the only way left for getting Delhi Police to answer whether this disgusting slogan is allowed under law."
