Haridwar hate speech accused Tyagi says his life is in danger

Haridwar hate speech accused Jitendra Narayan Tyagi has said he will surrender in a Haridwar court on Friday, and claimed in a video that his life is in danger and he may be killed in a suicide attack.

Tyagi, called Waseem Rizvi before his conversion to Hinduism, was granted an interim bail for three months on medical grounds in the Dharma Sansad case by the Supreme Court on May 17.

The apex court turned down his application for the extension of his bail on Monday and asked him to surrender on September 2. "I will surrender in the CJM's court in Dehradun on Friday," Tyagi told PTI on Thursday.

He also expressed apprehensions that he could be killed in a suicide attack by Muslim fundamentalists.

Earlier in a video clip, Tyagi said his life is in danger and he may be killed in a suicide attack.

Some criminals from Haridwar's Jwalapur had plans to behead him when he was in jail but did not succeed because of strict prison rules, he said in the video that surfaced on Wednesday.

However, Tyagi said he does not worry about the threat to his life as he has faith in the Sanatan Dharma and will fight for it till his last breath.

He said minorities in India have more freedom than the majority, so they can speak against Hindu gods and goddesses using Article 19 of the Constitution as a "shield". "Whereas even allusions by us to what is written in their religious books is considered a hate speech," Tyagi said.

On the charges levelled against him, he said they are all false.

"False charges of crimes which I did not commit were slapped against me. I am the victim of a conspiracy hatched by mullahs," he alleged.

Indicating that he might surrender before the authorities soon, Tyagi said he is going to jail again.

Describing his return to Hinduism as "ghar wapsi", Tyagi said he never regretted his conversion to the religion.

"I am in the Sanatan Dharma and will remain in it till my last breath," he said.

However, he said he regretted that he was not treated the way a long-lost relative is treated after he returns home.

Citing caste divisions among the Hindus as their Achilles heel, he said "Islamic jihad" or terrorism cannot be fought unless believers in the Sanatan Dharma become united.

"If believers in the Sanatan Dharma were united, they would not have been ruled by foreign invaders for 1,000 years," Tyagi said in the video message.

He said daughters of India were taken to Afghanistan and sold off like commodities at a square named Dukhtaran-e-Hind but the divisions among Hindus did not let them speak against this atrocity.

"Secularism does not mean bearing with atrocities silently," he said.

Tyagi said he was in depression and there is no certainty of his life. He said he has written a book summing up what he has gained and lost in life, which may get published after he is no more.

Tyagi was the first to be arrested in January this year in connection with the Haridwar Dharma Sansad where highly provocative speeches were allegedly made against Islam and its practitioners.

The Dharma Sansad was held in Haridwar in December last year.

His name is among more than 10 people, including the controversial priest of the Dasna temple near Ghaziabad, Yati Narasinghananda.

Tyagi was granted an interim bail for three months on medical grounds by the Supreme Court on May 17. After the completion of his bail period, he had appealed for its extension which was turned down by the Supreme Court, The apex court had asked him to surrender by September 2.