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Vinay Katiyar
Vinay Katiyar is the founder and president of Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Hindu nationalist- religious militant designate organization Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in India. He is also the former General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Katiyar started his political journey with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Sangh Parivar. He was the organizing secretary of ABVP’s Uttar Pradesh state unit from 1970 to 1974. He has served as a Member of Parliament in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
During the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition, Katiyar played a very prominent role. He, along with other BJP leaders like Lal Krishna Advani, Uma Bharti, and Kalyan Singh, were among those who were behind the nationwide Hindu nationalist movement to demolish the historic mosque.
In 1984, he was chosen by the RSS to found Bajrang Dal to support the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Lakhs of karsevaks had gathered at the site from across the country. The incident triggered communal riots nationwide.
On April 19, 2017, the Supreme court ordered day-to-day trial in the case and said it should be concluded within two years. The court had also restored criminal conspiracy charges filed against, Katiyar, Murli Manohar Joshi, LK Advani along with Sadhvi Ritambhara, and Vishnu Hari Dalmia.
In November 2019, while passing its judgment on the related Ayodhya title dispute, the Supreme Court said that the 1992 “destruction of the mosque and the obliteration of the Islamic structure” was an “egregious violation of the rule of law.”
In 2020, six years after Narendra Modi came to power, the special CBI court acquitted all 32 accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case, saying there was insufficient evidence to prove criminal conspiracy in the case.
Immediately afterward, Surendra Yadav, a retired Judge who had passed the acquittal order, was made Deputy Lokayukta (III) in Uttar Pradesh.
Katiyar is also well known for giving hate speeches and making communal statements.
In February 2018, he said: “Muslims should not stay in this country. They have partitioned the country on the basis of population. So why are they here? Muslims have been given their share. They should go to Bangladesh or Pakistan… they have no business being in India.”
Some of his other controversial statements:
“People from the Muslim community should abstain from touching cows and provoke aggressive Hindus. There are lot of Muslims who are sheltering cows but are also killing them. Cow meat is also being consumed by them.”
“Call it Taj Mahotsav or Tej Mahotsav both are the same things. There is not much difference between Taj and Tej. Our Tej Mandir has been turned into a cremation ground by Aurangzeb. Taj Mahal will be converted into Tej Mandir soon.”
“I believe Ram Janmabhumi is demanding another sacrifice, and the Hindu community should get ready for this. The way Mulayam Singh Yadav fired shots on December 6, 1992 and many people were killed, another such revolution needs to be instigated and our Hindu community must be ready for martyrdom.”
Reference:
https://scroll.in/latest/867827/muslims-should-not-live-in-this-country-says-bjp-mp-vinay-katiyar
https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/nation/story/20081013-the-rogue-army-737791-2008-10-02