Yogi Adityanath

RadicaliserHindu NationalismHindutvaIndianExtremistRight WingHinduism

Jul 27

**DOB:** 5 June 1972

**Nationality:** Indian

**Location:** Gorakhpur, India
**Ideology/Affiliation:** Anti-Muslim/Right-wing Populism/Hindu Fundamentalism

**Type of Leader:** Hindu Monk/Politician/Hindutva Leader/Founder of Hindu Yuva Vahini/Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh

Other Names: Ajay Singh Bisht/Mahant Yogi Adityanath/Shri Yogi Adityanath

Current status: Chairman of Hindu Yuva Vahini and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh

Biography

Around the 1990s, Adityanath left his family to join the Ayodhya Ram temple campaign. Around this time, he became a disciple of Mahant Avaidyanath, the leader of the Gorakhnath Math. After the death of his teacher Avaidyanath, in September 2014, Adityanath was raised to the rank of Mahant or head priest of the Gorakhnath Math. In the 2017 assembly elections in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath was a leading campaigner for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - the current ruling party of the Republic of India.

On March 18, 2017, the state government appointed him as the new Chief Minister. Adityanath is also the founder of the Hindu Nationalist organization Hindu Yuva Vahini. Due to his contentious beliefs, he is often referred to as a Hindu nationalist. He has a reputation as a right-wing Hindutva firebrand.

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Evidence of Hate Speech/Incitement:

April 2019: India’s election commission imposed a ban on Adityanath from campaigning for three days for citing his attempts to provoke hatred between religious communities. Amid delivering a speech in front of BJP’s supporters, Adityanath described the Muslim League party as a “green virus” and “whoever gets infected with this virus cannot survive”, he added.

March 2017: In one of Adityanath’s speeches, he openly states that “Hinduism is a different culture. Islam is a different culture. They can’t coexist. Two cultures cannot coexist. It will cause friction. There definitely will be.”

June 2016: Speaking at a religious meeting, Adityanath stated the following about the Christian Mother Teresa: “Mother Teresa was part of a conspiracy to convert Hindus to Christianity. Hindus were targeted in the name of doing service and then converted by her”. And when asked about the construction of the Ram temple, Adityanath’s answer was: “Who can stop you from building it? When nobody could stop us from demolishing the mosque, then who can stop us from constructing the temple there? Construction of the temple will happen now.”

May 2009: Adityanath is known for his anti-Muslim rhetoric. During the Loksabha elections in 2009, in front of a crowd, the camera caught Adityanath saying “we have decided that if they (Muslims) convert one Hindu girl, we will convert a hundred Muslim girls. If given the chance, I will decorate every mosque with the idols of Ganesh, Gauri, and Nandi. If they (Muslims) kill one Hindu, there will be a hundred that we kill”. Adityanath’s statements often include anti-Muslim hate speech that promotes violence and verbal assault, putting Indian national security and coexistence at risk.