GIA submits a letter to President of India on biased report of Delhi Minorities Commission on Delhi Riots

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VSK TN
    
 
     

LETTER TO PRESIDENT OF INDIA WITH REFERENCE TO THE BIASED, COMMUNAL AND ONE-SIDED REPORT OF THE DELHI MINORITIES COMMISSION ON THE DELHI RIOTS 2020 RELEASED ON 10 JULY 2020

We, members of the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians (GIA) are writing to you the Hon. President of India, Sri Ramnath Kovind, to draw your attention towards the Report of the Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) on the Delhi Riots released on 10 July 2020. The Delhi Minorities Commission is a statutory body charged with the task of overlooking minority welfare in Delhi. The report referred to is biased, communal and one-sided.

  1. Communal Victim card being played by Delhi Minorities Commission in the Report

We in GIA read the entire report in detail and would like to draw your attention towards the biased, illogical and unsubstantiated nature of this report that seeks to create further communal tension. We quote from the report from page 11. para no.1 in the Preface.

‘The  violence  which  hit  Delhi’s  North  East  district  on  23  February  2020  and continued unabated for the next few days was seemingly planned and directed to teach   a   lesson   to   a   certain   community   which   dared   to   protest   against   a discriminatory law.

The report has thus begun with a dangerous presumption. Further we quote: from the report pg 11 para 2

‘Attempts ever since are being made to shield the planners, instigators, leaders and perpetrators of that violence and turn the victims into culprits. Courts  of law will play  their  crucial  role  to  see  through  the  web  of  deceit  being  woven  by  certain quarters  including  a  section  of  media.  It  is  encouraging  that  victims  are  coming forward  to  seek  justice  and  speak  out. A  section  of  the  media  is  doing its  duty  to faithfully unearth the unpalatable truths.

A Report as crucial and important as this one needed to be based on ground facts .It is clear above that the Delhi Minorities Commission is indulging in a victim card and conspiracy theory and is carrying the  narrative  of  the  section  of  the  media  it  feels  is  sympathetic.  This  in  itself  casts  doubt  on  the seriousness of the report.

  1. Further Victim card being played and propagated by Delhi Minorities Commission

Further victim card is being played and the riots linked with the Citizenship Amendment Act which incidentally has nothing to do with Indian Muslims.

‘We stand at the threshold of a crucial stage. Most victims of the religious minority have stated stories and put forth illustrations reflecting religious bias against them, inasmuch  as  being  treated  as  a  separate  and  distinct  ‘community’  rather  than citizens of the country. I have no doubt in stating that the same discriminatory bias and hate became reason for the minorities to take a lead in the protests against the discriminatory CAA. The protests were legitimate and peaceful.’

We  would  like  to  draw  your  kind  attention  towards  the  fact  that  if  a  statutory  body  like  the  Delhi Minorities Commission carries such biases then we as citizens are concerned for any further social solidarity  and  amity  between  communities.  There  is  also  a  blatant  lie  being  peddled  in  the  above extract. The anti-CAA protests were far from peaceful.

Delhi was being systematically subject to communalization and violence from December 2019 itself. Data  collected  from  the  ground  reveals  that  protest  sites  against  an  Indian  government  policy,  the Citizenship  Amendment  Act  (CAA)  systematically  established  in  Delhi  since  mid  December  2019 were far violent from the starting.

There  were  a  total  of  13  cases  of  rioting  registered  against  anti-CAA  protesters  in  the  Central, Southern and Eastern ranges of Delhi. Of these between 16- 20 December 2019, 7 cases of rioting and violence  against  anti-CAA  protesters  were  registered  in  the  Eastern  range  itself.  The  riot  affected North  East  Delhi  falls  within  this  range.  The locus  of  most  of these rioting  incidents  by  anti-CAA protesters was road number 66 connecting the GT road and the Wazirabad road.

  1. Delhi Minorities   Commission   conjures   an   imaginary   term   ‘pro-CAA   Rally

(protesters)’

The DMC report weaves an astonishing story. It comes up with the term ‘pro-CAA Rally (protesters)

on Pages 14 para 1 and 26 para 2

Seemingly, to crush the protests, with support of the Administration and Police, a retaliatory plan of  pro-CAA protesters was worked out to trigger violence at a large  scale  which  led  to  loss  of  lives  and  damage  to  hundreds  of  properties owned mainly by the Muslim religious minority.(page 14 Para 1)

We fail to understand what pro-CAA protesters are in entirety. Were these people who were being affected by a possible non-implementation of the CAA?  Be it known that CAA became an act on 12

December 2019, and was already ready for further enforcement. What were the pro-CAA protesters? This  is  a  smokescreen  being  created  by  the  Delhi  Minorities  Commission  in  order  to  plant  a  pre- planned story.

  1. Delhi Minorities Commission report builds a Political narrative

From a reading of the  report it appears that the entire exercise is aimed at making a narrative against Kapil  Mishra  and  the  Bharatiya  Janata  Party  (BJP).  We  wish  you  to  note  that  this  extent  of politicization has been responsible for the Delhi Riots. Almost all the persons under investigation for the  Delhi  Riots  either  belong  to  the  Congress  Party  (Safoora  Zargar,  Ishrat  Jahan)  or  to  the  Aam Aadmi  Party  (Tahir  Hussian)  or  to  a  group  of  Urban-Naxal-Jihadi  outfits  (  Pinjra  Tod,  outfits  and ideological networks of the Jamat e Islami).

  1. Delhi Minorities Commission is once again making attempts to malign the Indian

State

There is also an attempt to malign State and  law enforcement. We fear that given the past record of the  Chairman  of  the  Delhi  Minorities Commission  therein  lies  an  attempt  to internationally  malign India. We quote:

Partisanship and bias on the part of the Police and Government have led to the abject failure of duty and of the law and order machinery in the Capital of India.   Investigations   have   purposefully   been   misdirected   to   change   the narrative of the cause of the violence that erupted in the North-East district of Delhi.(Page 14 ,l ast Para)

  1. Report attempts to subvert the due process of Law

We also sense a blatant attempt at subverting the due process of Law.

…Persons like Dr M.A. Anwar of Al-Hind Hospital of Mustafabad have been castigated  in  the  chargesheet.  This  reflects  the  partisan  bias  and  shoddy methodology adopted in the investigation process.(Page 14 ,last para)

Evidence  and  investigation  are  the  tools  to  establish  the  innocence  of  those  charge  sheeted  in  any crime. We urge you to look into the narrative being peddled above.

  1. Ridiculous nature of the report

At times the report turns ridiculous. It deliberately calls the chief Minister of UP, Yogi Adytiyanath by his name that he no longer uses (page 28 Para 4). It mentions the slogan “desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko” (The country’s traitors, shoot them rascals) which incidentally is a take on the popular urban naxal slogan “Satta ke dalalon ko Goli maaro saloon ko” while ignoring the numerous incendiary secessionist slogans raised by anti-CAA protesters.

While reporting on violence against women the DMC report brings in Bollywood!!

A woman narrated how a movie based on Partition (Gadar) was referenced by the mob to attack her. She said that the rioters had all kinds  of weapons with them;  they  had  lathis,  swords  and  they  kept  chanting  ‘Jai  Shri  Ram’  and “Mullon ko Maaro” (Kill the Muslims!). The rioters were yelling at the women and,  saying,  “Bahut  see sakeenaayein  aaj  pakdi  jaayengi.”(A  lot  of  Sakeenas [Muslim women] would be caught today.)  (Page 62 section 2.4,1)

The report is fixated on Kapil Mishra and his speech. The fact is that there are almost 300 such hate Speeches including those of Sonia Gandhi, Warris Pathan, Amanatullah Khan, Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Sharjeel Usmani etc that call for much graver violence than the one speech the entire report is fixated upon.

  1. Privileges Gender   and   ignores   Gendercide   in   the   violence   in   North   East

Delhi(Section 2.4.5)

GIA  empathizes  with  the  violence  suffered  by  all  communities  in  the  Delhi  Riots  2020.  It  feels outraged by the gendered nature of violence directed at women irrespective of religious identity. We thus  urge  you  to  consider  this  report  that  tries  to  draw  a  bias  even  where  gendered  violence  is concerned. However we also urge you to consider that the Delhi Violence is also a Gendercide. An inordinate number of men were targeted by violent female mobs in North-East Delhi. Constable Ratal Lal of the Delhi Police was shot dead. IB staffer Ankit Sharma was stabbed and  killed in the most brutal way possible.The GIA report on Delhi Riots 2020 has shown this, based on hard data.

  1. Attack on Religious Identity (Section 2.4.6)

The DMC report mentions that there was an attack on religious identity of Muslims. Data from all over Delhi including North East Delhi shows that crowds at protest sites were intensely anti-Hindu. Media, slogans and speeches raised in these sites targeted Indic symbols. The Om, Swastika and Maa Kali were trivialized and desecrated. We request that you look into evidences and we strongly object to this inversion of narratives.

  1. Delhi Minorities  Commission  has  tried  to  play  the  role  of  the  Judiciary  (Section

2.5.15)

While discussing the deaths of IB Officer Ankit Sharma and Constable Ratan Lal the Delhi Minorities Commission report starts playing the role of the judiciary. It blames the Delhi Police for not parting with obviously sensitive documents that they have not shared with any member of the public.

  1. The report gives a wrong sequence of the initiation of the Violence

The  Delhi  Minorities  Commission  report  gives  a  wrong  sequence  of  events  while discussing the initiation of violence in North East Delhi. We quote:

Violence  started  in  different  pockets  almost  immediately  after  the  short speech of Shri Kapil Mishra on 23 February 2020 at Maujpur in which he openly  called  for  forcefully  removing  the  protestors  at  Jafrabad  in  North East Delhi. He clearly said that he and his supporters will take matters into their  own  hands,  alluding  to  extralegal  vigilante  tactics,  in  saying:  “But after that we will not listen to the Police if roads are not cleared after three days…” The open admission of “not listening” to the police and extralegal tactics should have been seen by the authorities present as inciting violence. (Section 5.1 page 99)

Our research shows that The Jaffrabad –Wazirpur road, more specifically the 66 foot road was an area that was violent much before 23 February 2020. The immensely provocative act of blocking an arterial road connecting population of 25 lakhs approximately from outside was again done by anti-CAA protesters in the intervening night between 22 and 23 February 2020. A violent crowd of stone- pelters were already on the roads by the afternoon of 23 February 2020. By night the violence had  intensified. Safoora Zargar was allegedly a part of this mobilization.

Analysis

Delhi Minorities Commission reaches conclusions that are based on presumptions derived from a day’s visit to the ground. This bias has formed the tone of the report.

We quote:

‘This was this Commission’s assessment when we paid an official day-long visit to the violence-affected area on 2 March 2020.’(Page 11 para 1)

We in GIA draw your kind attention to the fact that Delhi Minorities Commission submits on page 11,para

1;  quoted  above  that  they  paid  a  one  day  official  visit  to  the  site  of  riots  on  2  March  2020  before  the constitution of the fact finding committee on 9 March 2020. It is noteworthy that only a one day visit has sufficed to reach the conclusion that this was a planned attack against Muslims of North East Delhi. This is conclusion based on insufficient data collection.

We understand that this is a Delhi Minorities Commission report and the Commission would focus on the minorities (Muslims). However we feel that given the importance of the report it should have been wider and  inclusive.  It  is  not  possible  to  reach  the  conclusions  about  the  nature  of  the  violence  unless  both communities  have  been  spoken  to.  The  Delhi  Riots  2020  was  a  tumultuous  event  in  inter-community relations  in  the  country.  It  was  the  outcome  of  politicisation  of  policy  and  the  subversion  of  policy contestation by Urban Naxals and Jihadis. The role the Delhi Minorities Commission in such circumstances should  have  been  to  build  bridges  rather  than  peddle  a  fake  narrative  that  may  once  again  inflame communal passions.

Monika Arora, Convenor G.I.A.

Advocate, Supreme Court of India

 

Members of Fact Finding Team of Delhi Riots 2020:

Dr. Prerna Malhotra

Assistant Professor, Ram Lal Anand (University of Delhi)

Ms. Sonali Chitalkar

Assistant Professor, Miranda House College (University of Delhi)

Dr. Shruti Mishra

Assistant Professor, P.G.D.A.V Eve College (University of Delhi)

Ms. Divyansha Sharma

Assistant Professor, Institute of Home Economics (University of Delhi)

(GIA, the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians is a forum for professional and articulate women that took shape in 2014, as a questioning, sane voice in a charged socio-political atmosphere. GIA was founded on April 25, 2015. Over the last five years GIA has established a  fact based and sane alternate discourse in response to socio-political events in the country through  monthly seminars on vital, current issues, publications marches and public signature campaigns to draw the attention of society to vulture politics around Caste, Secessionism and Nationalism. GIA has contributed to the search for established facts in the age of fake news and narratives through a series of fact  –finding missions on key national issues like the Jeesha  rape and murder case in Kerala  and  migrations  from  Kairana.  The  GIA  team  includes  a  President  awardee,  Pro-Vice  Chancellors,  senior  advocates, university teachers, journalists and entrepreneurs. GIA has advocated and pushed law-enforcing agencies to take action wherever there have been crimes against women.)

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