‘Goli maaro’ slogans at Rajiv Chowk, CP
NEW DELHI: A peace march, which was Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra attended on Saturday, saw inflammatory slogans like “shoot the traitors” being raised. The march was carried out from Jantar Mantar to Parliament Street and the provocative slogans were raised by some members near Connaught Place.
A similar sloganeering took place at Rajiv Chowk Metro station in the morning by a group of six students, who were immediately removed by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and handed over to the Delhi Metro Police for questioning.
The families of some of the victims of the communal violence also participated in Saturday’s peace march, which was carried out in the presence or around 100 police personnel. Police said the march did not have permission from them. However, no action has been taken by the police in connection with the inflammatory slogans or for the carrying out the march without securing their permission.
Two video clips of the two separate incidents of the sloganeering surfaced on social media, attracting sharp criticism against the Delhi Police from social media users.
Deputy commissioner of police (Metro) Vikram Porwal said that six students were found shouting slogans “…shoot the traitors” at Rajiv Chowk Metro station.
“We detained them and questioned them. They were found to be students. They had no criminal antecedents. All of them were released after due verification,” added Porwal.
The DMRC issued a statement and said, “In reference to a video clip going viral on social media, showing sloganeering by some passengers at Rajiv Chowk Metro station, it is to state that this incident happened today around 10:52am.”
“The DMRC and CISF staff immediately handed them over to the Delhi Metro Rail Police for further necessary action. Under Delhi Metro O&M Act 2002, any kind of demonstration or nuisance is prohibited in Delhi metro premises. Any passenger indulging in such act is liable to be removed from the Metro premises,” DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said in the statement.
As the Metro rail police were questioning the six students, another incident of similar sloganeering took place at Connaught Place in a march from Jantar Mantar to Parliament Street. At Jantar Mantar, slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ were raised as around 1,200 hundreds of people gathered holding the tricolour.
One of the participants Sumit Malhotra, who identified himself as a social activist, said that the march was organised by “Delhi Peace Forum” and messages to join the march at Jantar Mantar was shared on social media groups for the past three-four days. Malhotra confirmed that BJP leader Kapil Mishra participated the event at Jantar Mantar and also that “shoot the traitors” slogans were raised by some people as the march was in Connaught Place’s inner circle.