Political battle after street fights
Delhi govt, Centre, Oppn politicians shift blame as Delhi’s body count climbs to 38, many still critically injured 2 SITs formed, AAP leader Tahir Hussain charged with murder; BJP’s Kapil Mishra holds ‘peace’ march
NEWDELHI: The death toll from the communal riots in north-east Delhi rose to 38 on Thursday as sporadic violence continued in some neighbourhoods, but most of the region reported a nervous peace while much of the focus shifted to a political slugfest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Several BJP leaders launched an onslaught on the AAP, pointing to the ostensible recovery of petrol bombs (Molotov cocktail) and pouches of acid from AAP councillor Tahir Hussan’s residence in Chand Bagh, which witnessed the worst of the rioting that raged between Sunday and Wednesday.
Delhi Police officials said on Thursday evening that Hussain was booked for the murder of an Intelligence Bureau staffer, a charge he denied in a video statement.
“I want to say that all the news being spread and shown about me is totally false. It is all dirty politics being played against me,” he said, hours before he was suspended by the AAP.
Responding to the allegations against his party colleague, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that if anyone from AAP played any role in the riots, “they should be given double the punishment”. “If the police were under me, I would have taken the strictest action. There should not be any politics in this,” he added.
The neighbourhood around Hussain’s residence saw some of the worst rioting between mobs that included Hindus as well as
Muslims. The road outside was littered with bricks and stones hurled by both sides, while several buildings stood burned and hollowed. “Riot factory has been found at AAP councillor Tahir Hussain’s house. Why is the Congress and the AAP silent on this?” Union minister and BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said in a press briefing on Thursday, when he also claimed that the opposition’s campaign against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) had created conditions that led to the rioting.
“People were being instigated for the past two months. After the CAA was passed on December 11, Congress held a rally at Ramlila Maidan on December 14 where she said ‘now we have to decide: Is paar ya us paar’. Is this not instigation?” Javadekar said, alluding to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Gandhi had on Wednesday held a rare press conference hitting out at the BJP – particularly the Union home minister who, she said, must resign – as well as the AAP.
“Due to the complete inaction on the part of the home minister and the Central government, the violence has claimed the lives of at least 34 people and over 200 have been injured at last count. Several crores worth of properties and business have fallen prey to unchecked arson and looting,” Gandhi said on Thursday, reading from a memorandum the Congress party gave to President Ram Nath Kovind.
Earlier in the day, Congress leaders questioned the transfer of Delhi high court judge S Muralidhar – who had heard a petition relating to the violence on Wednesday and pulled up the Delhi Police for not filing cases against a hate speech by BJP’s Kapil Mishra hours before the violence broke out on Sunday. “The midnight transfer of Justice Muralidhar isn’t shocking given the current dispensation, but it is certainly sad and shameful,” said party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in a tweet.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that the BJP government was “waging a battle of revenge” against the judiciary.
On Thursday evening, Union home ministry officials said no major incident had been reported for 36 hours in any of the affected districts.
“Prohibitory orders under Section 144 will be relaxed for a total of 10 hours tomorrow in view of the improvement in the ground situation,” an official said, asking not to be named.
Locals Hindustan Times spoke to said they have been advised by police to stay indoors. “Delhi Police have told us not to gather on the main road. But some of us have also voluntarily closed the gates. We are doing this so that outsiders do not come and set our homes on fire. On Monday and Tuesday, we saw new faces in our colony. Many of the rioters were from outside,” said Azhar, who lives in one of the lanes in Chand Bagh.
Using handcarts, cycle rickshaws and Delhi police barricades, most resident of the neighbourhood have locked themselves in.
A few minutes’ drive away from Chand Bagh, the Jafrabad chowk and Maujpur chowk were opened for regular traffic for the first time this week on Thursday. Jafrabad was the site of the sit-in protest by Muslim women against the CAA, while Maujpur was the location where local Hindus gathered in support of the law and played Hanuman Chalisa on loop on loudspeakers installed temporarily along the blocked road. The makeshift arrangements were cleared by the police.
Authorities also began removing debris from the stricken neighbourhoods, with one agency removing as many as 2,000kg of bricks and stones – used as projectiles -- from a single neighbourhood.
Fire officials said at least 79 houses, 52 shops, five warehouses, four mosques, three factories and two schools had been set ablaze between Monday and Thursday morning.
A rough estimate suggested that at least 500 vehicles, including two-wheelers, were burnt during this period.