Delhi citizens demand judge-led independent probe into communal violence

NEW DELHI: A group of concerned citizens of Delhi have written to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal demanding an “independent probe” into the February 2020 communal violence in Delhi under a retired Judge of suitable stature.
Signatories, who include professionals, retired government officers, academicians, cultural artists, authors, political leaders and activists have said that the probe into the communal conflagration by the Delhi Police has been “totally one sided and politically motivated” apart from being in “sharp contrast” to the report and recommendations of the Delhi Minority Commission. “This makes the setting up of such a probe all the more urgent. It will bring confidence to the people of Delhi and take forward the necessity to punish those guilty and to bring justice to the victims,” the letter says, listing six grounds for setting up such an inquiry.
Alleging that Delhi police could not act independently because it comes under the jurisdiction of the Home ministry and home minister Amit Shah, “himself had led the highly communal election campaign in Delhi which was a prelude to the violence”, the letter has questioned the Delhi police’s ability to conduct an independent inquiry.
“...In fact his (Shah) speech has been quoted in the DMC report. There is a clear conflict of interest between getting to the truth and defending the leaders of the ruling party at the centre. Several BJP leaders including Ministers in the Central Government, MPs and other leaders like Kapil Mishra had made hate speeches but not a single FIR has been filed. On the contrary, the Delhi police have officially declared that such speeches which sow enmity between two communities and incite violence are not “cognizable offences”,” the letter has said.
Signed by Air Vice Marshal (Retd) NI Razzaqui, former foreign secretary Muchkund Dubey, retired civil servant Wajahat Habibullah, CPM polit bureau member Brinda Karat, Harsh Mander, Sayeda Hameed, Shyam Menon, Githa Hariharan, Swami Agnivesh, and academics Prabhat Patnaik and Jayati Ghosh, among others, the letter also said Delhi police was under “pressure not to arrest those accused of violence even if they have been named”. It also pointed to the police’s written rejoinders to petitions in Court that they have so far found no evidence against the police, in what they have alleged is an attempt to scuttle an inquiry into the role of the police.