Minority panel accuses cops of inaction during NE Delhi riots

New Delhi: A fact-finding panel of the Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC), which was formed to look into February’s communal violence in northeast Delhi, has accused police of “inaction”. It has recommended that an independent high-level committee led by a retired high court judge should ensure registration of FIRs in all cases where complaints had been ignored and review of chargesheets filed by police in the light of allegations of ‘facts’ being left out.
This committee should also ensure time-bound payment of compensation to victims, the DMC said.
The report, submitted by DMC to LG Anil Baijal and CM Arvind Kejriwal, states that “testimonies of the victims reveal that the violence in northeast Delhi was not spontaneous like a riot. It was planned, organised and targeted”. It says that “both the Committee and Delhi Minorities Commission sought information about FIRs and arrests etc. from the Delhi Police but neither of them got any response”.
On the issue of compensation, it pointed out that even four months after the violence, the verification process has not been completed in many cases. Also in many cases, after verification, no compensation or very small amount of interim compensation has been paid.
The report says that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a large number of Muslims had been displaced from relief camps. The report also documents 11 mosques, five madrasas, one shrine and one graveyard which were attacked or damaged during the violence.
DMC, which is chaired by Dr Zafarul Islam Khan, said the report highlights that “multiple testimonies collected by the fact-finding committee recount police inaction even as violence unfolded or of police not arriving despite repeated calls on the emergency call number”. It also contains testimonies of alleged attacks on women and sexual harassment.
The fact-finding panel was led by MR Shamshad, a lawyer of Supreme Court.