Amid Haridwar row, another 'dharma sansad' planned in UP?

Days after the Supreme Court agreed to hear a PIL against alleged hate speech at a dharma sansad in Haridwar, the petitioners have reportedly been allowed to approach authorities to stop another such gathering in Uttar Pradesh.

The apex court reportedly allowed a former high court judge and a journalist to appeal to authorities to stop a dharma sansad in UP's Aligarh on January 23.

Meanwhile, the top court asked the Uttarakhand government to reply to the petition on the Haridwar event within 10 days, as per reports. The dharma sansad, or religious assembly had been held between December 17 and 19 last year, and allegedly saw speeches exhorting violence against the Muslim community.

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The petitioners have claimed that no action apart from filing of an FIR has been taken.

As videos of the speeches did the rounds on social media, the Uttarakhand police filed an FIR against one person - Waseem Rizvi who has converted to Hinduism and calls himself Jitendra Tyagi now. Later, 4 more people were reportedly named - Yati Narasimhanand, Sagar Sidhu Maharaj, Dharamdas, and Pooja Shakun Pandey.

Both Uttarakhand and UP are headed to elections within weeks. While the hill state will vote on February 14, UP will go to polls in 7 phases from February 10. Results will be announced on March 10.