Pune (PTI): Swami Govinddev Giri, the treasurer of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, said on Sunday that it was wrong to describe a political fight as “vote jihad”, asserting that the Hindu society must counter it.
His comments come amid Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s attacks on “vote jihad” and calls to respond to it with ‘dharma-yudh’.
Speaking to reporters here, the Hindu seer said directions about whom to vote were earlier discretely issued from religious places by distributing pamphlets but slogans like ‘vote jihad’ are now being openly given.
The religious leader said 'jihad' is equivalent to ‘dharma-yudh’.
“Calling a fight between two political parties 'yudh' is not right. But since ‘vote jihad’ is being openly advocated, it must be countered by the Hindu society without hesitation,” he said.
Voting is the right and responsibility of good citizens, said the religious leader from Ayodhya Ram temple.
“Being a true Hindu is pro-humanity, and treating everyone equally like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,” he said, adding, “We should tolerate injustice as well.”
Earlier, referring to a purported appeal by an Islamic scholar for “vote jihad” against the BJP-led Mahayuti government, Fadnavis had called for a “dharma-yudh of votes” to counter it.
During a few rallies in Pune ahead of the November 20 assembly polls, Fadnavis had played a video by Islamic scholar Sajjad Nomani and claimed that the slogan of “vote-Jihad” was raised.
It is being said that a person who votes for the BJP must be ostracised, Fadnavis claimed.
“If these people are trying to do vote jihad, if they are saying they will destabilise the government through vote jihad, then you will also have to do dharma-yudh of votes,” Fadnavis had said in a swipe at the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.
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Bareilly (UP) (PTI): A local court here has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his mentally challenged wife by repeatedly electrocuting her while she was tied to a cot, lawyers said on Thursday.
Additional district government counsel Harendra Singh Rathore said Additional Sessions Judge Avinash Kumar Singh on Wednesday convicted Vinod Kumar (45) for killing his wife, Satyavati, in Chaina village of Bareilly district and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on him.
According to the prosecution, he was allegedly frustrated with his wife Satyavati's mental illness and often assaulted her.
Rathore said the prosecution examined nine witnesses to establish the charges against him.
As per court records, on the night of May 1-2, 2022, when Satyavati was asleep, Vinod tied her hands and legs to a cot using ropes and then connected an aluminium cable to an electric board to repeatedly administer electric shocks to her.
"She writhed in pain, but the accused continued to electrocute her until she died," the prosecution said.
The court observed that the murder was carried out in an inhuman manner.
After committing the crime, the accused threw the rope and cable on the roof and left for work at a brick kiln around 2 am to create a false alibi.
He later tried to mislead the police and the victim's family by claiming that Satyavati, whose mental condition was unstable, had accidentally died by suicide after grabbing a live electric wire.
However, the victim's brother, Sanjeev, a resident of Shahjahanpur district, suspected foul play and lodged an FIR under sections 498A (husband subjecting wife to cruelty) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at Nawabganj police station.
During the trial, the prosecution relied on the post-mortem report prepared by Dr Faraz Anwar, who stated that multiple electrocution marks found on different parts of the victim's body could not have been self-inflicted.
The police also recovered the rope and electric wire used in the crime on the accused's identification, officials said.
