As the situation at Chawri Bazar inched towards normalcy on Tuesday, politicians across party lines broke their silence on Monday’s violence.
The Congress termed the vandalisation of a temple and violence in the area “condemnable” while underlining that the Capital’s law and order was the responsibility of the Narendra Modi-led government.
AAP Minister Imran Hussain, meanwhile, took to Twitter to claim that he had taken effective steps to calm tempers down, even as the BJP pointed fingers at him.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan visited the area, followed by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel. Chawri Bazar falls under Mr. Vardhan’s Parliamentary constituency of Chandni Chowk
‘Guilty will not be spared’
“Visited the temple this morning and offered prayers. Was saddened by the vandalism that the idols of deities were subjected to. Have gathered information from local residents about the issue and assured them that the guilty will not be spared,” tweeted Mr. Vardhan.
In addition to appealing to both communities to maintain peace in the area and “not to fall for rumours”, Mr. Hussain said that peace was restored in the area in the evening. “Met with the police as well as representatives from both communities seeking to establish peace in the area. All of us proceeded to ensure that shops were reopened. Now there is peace in the area,” he tweeted.
Mr. Goel also claimed that both the communities had assured him that “they would live in harmony with each other”.
The Rajya Sabha MP, however, demanded an investigation into Mr. Hussain’s “role” after the incident, even as he questioned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s “silence” on the matter.