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🇮🇳 India /Crime & Justice

‘Sanatani Yodha’: Who is Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj at the centre of an assault row?

From Hindustan Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj is facing controversy over podcast remarks in which he appeared to claim responsibility for assaulting a student protester’s father.
  • His social-media videos target the CJP agitation and praise police action during student protests at Jantar Mantar.
  • Bhardwaj later denied the remarks and said his threats concerned people he called anti-national, not students or authorities.

Swatantra Bhardwaj presents himself online as a “Swatantra Sanatani Yodha”, but his public persona has now placed him at the centre of a political row over an alleged assault.

The real goons have arrived now. And we will show what real gundagardi is.

· Swatantra BhardwajA video posted during the CJP protest agitation showed Bhardwaj holding a lathi and warning protesters.

The Hindutva influencer has around 187,000 Instagram followers and has posted several videos targeting the CJP agitation, which ran from June 6 to July 25. Other videos show him holding a lathi, or stick, while warning protesters at Jantar Mantar. In one video posted on July 22, he says, “The real goons have arrived now. And we will show what real gundagardi is.”

Bhardwaj also claimed that he had men moving around the capital. In another video, he defended his threats, saying, “I did not threaten any student, soldier or government. I threatened the anti-nationals who are setting an agenda and hurting government property.”

I did not threaten any student, soldier or government. I threatened the anti-nationals who are setting an agenda and hurting government property.

· Swatantra BhardwajHe defended threats made in videos targeting the protest movement.

The controversy intensified after a podcast in which he appeared to say that he had assaulted Sanjay Kumar, the father of student activist Nishu Aazad, and “cracked his skull”. He referred to a serious head injury, 60 stitches and a possible case under Section 307. Bhardwaj later denied making the remarks and described the alleged statement as self-defence.

I cracked the skull of Nishu's father. Do you know which section this crime attracts? Section 307. He needed 60 stitches.

· Swatantra BhardwajHe appeared to make the claim during a podcast before later denying the remarks.
About this summary

Originally published by Hindustan Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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