Group of Intellectuals and Academicians submit report on Delhi anti-Hindu riots to Home Ministry – Exposes the forces behind the ‘Dharna to Danga’ model

Even before the ground report from the riot hit parts of Delhi emerged, a large section of the media and the western media aided by their sepoys in India gave a partisan outlook to the riots and made the perpetrators into victims. The sufferings of the Hindus was deliberately ignored and only the statements of Muslims were recorded and publicised. Now, a ground report by the Fact Finding Team of Group of Intellectuals and Academicians (GIA) has exposed the conspiracy behind the anti-Hindu riots and also the media machinations behind it. The report has been submitted to the Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri. G Kishen Reddy.

Founded in 2015, GIA is a group of professional women and entrepreneurs, media persons and academicians committed to social-justice and nation-building. The members include Advocate Monika Arora, Dr. Prerna Malhotra, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Ram Lal Anand College, Sonali Chitalkar, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Miranda House, Dr. Shruti Mishra, Assistant Professor, P.G.D.A.V College, and Ms. Divyansha Sharma, Assistant Professor, Institute of Home Economics.

The GIA report titled ‘Delhi Riots 2020 Report from Ground Zero – The Shaheen Bagh Model in North-East Delhi: From Dharna to Danga’ accessed by Organiser details the persons whom the Fact Finding Team met, the sites visited, along with tracing the sequence of events. The report provides its detailed findings and recommendations before constructing the sequence of events with dates leading up to Delhi anti-Hindu riots. The report is clear that the riots against Hindus was pre-planned and protests against CAA was only used as a alibi and a platform to plan.

The riots were planned in 4 phases as per the report. In the First Phase which was the the period immediately after the passing of Citizenship Amendment Act on 11 December 2019 in the Parliament, protests were held by Jihadis and Peoples Front of India (PFI) in Universities. Content of all protests were radical Islamic. Crowds of students mixed with outsiders and clashed with the Police in Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia etc. Sharjeel Imam made his first speech in Jamia on December 13 2019. Later his much publicized second speech was made at AMU on 16 January 2020.

In the second phase, Shaheen Bagh Type dharnas were escalated after Police action against protesters. North-East Delhi is exclusively escalated as one dharna zone. Most of the political parties supported these Dharnas. However Urban Naxal-Jihadi organizers closed these protests to any outside negotiation, says the report.

In the third phase, from about 15 January till 15 February the protests at such sites continued and there was no police or state action. During this period most of these dharnas were sites of Artists performances, speeches, poems, high-decibel anti government, Anti- Hindu and radical Islamic protest formats were observed and most Universities in Delhi continued to feed these Dharna sites, says the report.

In the fourth and final phase, from 15 February onwards most Dharnas became violent and aggressive. Warris Pathan delivered his hate speech in Gulbarga on 20 February 2020. On 23rd February a crowd of around 4000 Anti-CAA protesters entered Malviya Nagar market. In an extremely dangerous move, Azadi slogans were raised in front of the Shiva Temple. Clashes with the Police occurred when the Anti-CAA protesters tried to block the road. It was during this time that Hindu homes and properties were vandalised, burnt and dozens of Hindus killed.

The timeline and the details of the violence on 24th February onwards in the report, shows the one-sided violence perpetrated by violent Muslim mobs on Hindus. The ground report from Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajnapura, in the GIA report provides the details of the nature of the violence, weapons and paraphernalia used to attack Hindus and the kind of preparations that went behind the riots. The role of Muslim leaders of AAP like Tahir Hussain, Amanatullah Khan are evident from the report. The report also shows that most of the victims who suffered at the hands of the Muslim mobs were from the Scheduled Castes.

The report provides details for each of the reasons for the riots in its 19 findings. They are:

1. Riots in North East Delhi were a planned conspiracy

2. There is evidence of a Urban Naxal- Jihadi network that planned and executed the riots

3. Radicalization of Muslims over a long period led to the riots

4. Riots originated in Anti CAA Protest sites

5. Women used as a shield in all protest sites

6. Anxiety and fear among the locals

7. Protest marches on streets, roads, markets etc. at odd times leading to chaos

8. The Shaheen Bagh Model

9. Anti Hindu, Anti India, Anti Police and Anti-Government nature of protest

10. Jihadi mobs indulged in targeted killings, looting and vandalizing shops

11. Riot weapons were stockpiled over a period of time

12. Links across the border

13. Exemplary role of local Hindu and Muslim community leaders

14. Violence against women

15. Scheduled Caste victims

16. Identity of rioters

17. Role of the Outsiders

18. Outsiders from various Universities in Delhi

19. Violent nature of Anti-CAA protests

Below are the important recommendations of the GIA report:

1. NIA Inquiry into Delhi Riots 2020: The GIA strongly recommends that given the intensity of the violence, the investigation into the riots should be handed over to the NIA. All incidents in Delhi from 15 December 2019 should be investigated.

2. Foreign funds and support for the violence in Delhi should be investigated by the NIA: The planning and execution of the Delhi riots from Dharna to Danga indicates the involvement of foreign agencies and funds. This should be investigated by the NIA.

3. Rehabilitation for all victims: In light of the extreme violence suffered by the most marginal sections of society in North-East Delhi we suggest that rehabilitation work should be done expeditiously.

4. Central Government should initiate confidence building measures: GIA suggests that the Central Government initiates confidence building measures amongst both communities utilizing the goodwill of prominent community members. .

5. Forensic audit of high-rise buildings: GIA report recommends that a forensic audit of all high buildings in North-East Delhi be carried out by investigating agencies.

6. NIA Inquiry into ‘outsider network’: GIA also recommends that Intelligence and Government agencies should investigate the ‘outsider network’ responsible for engineering riots in Delhi through an NIA Inquiry. The report recommends that the

role of students, teachers, artists, organisations responsible for instilling hate through dharna/protest marches, social media posts, provocative speeches etc should be investigated.

7. Direction to University authorities not to allow their campuses to be used for hate speeches and political gathering

8. Funding of Shaheen Bagh type protest: Boarding, lodging, food, hoardings, banners, publicity material etc. must be investigated.

9. Legal and Medical camps should be organized: Legal and Medical facilities and psychological counseling of victims including children should be arranged.

10. Sanctity of public spaces to be maintained by all law enforcing agencies: Police should ensure that roads, streets, parks etc. should not be used for dharna and protest. Such gatherings should only be allowed at designated spaces.