BJP leader Kapil Mishra claims ‘hate campaign’ against him

NEW DELHI:  BJP leader Kapil Mishra lodged a police complaint on Thursday over an alleged “hate campaign” being run against him. Mishra’s name has been doing the rounds in connection with the riots in February with his detractors accusing him of giving “instigating speech” and provoking the pro-CAA protestors to take law and order into their hands before the communal violence. 

“When the Delhi Police is filing charge sheets and the rioters are being arrested,  there is a section which is running a hate campaign against me and trying to save the real conspirators. That is why I came to the Special Cell office to file a complaint,” Mishra said.

The former AAP MLA was questioned in the last week of July by the Special Cell in connection with the northeast Delhi riots, where he claimed that he had gone to the area to “resolve the situation”, that he gave “no speech”, and that remarks made by him only meant to convey his intention of launching a ‘dharna’ to counter anti-CAA protesters.

In a video tweeted by him on February 23— a day before riots broke out in northeast Delhi—- Mishra can be seen addressing a pro-CAA gathering near the Maujpur traffic signal and standing next to DCP (North East) Ved Prakash Surya. “The DCP is standing in front of us and on your behalf, I want to tell him that till the US President (Donald Trump) is in India, we are leaving the area peacefully. After that, we won’t listen to you (police)... We will have to take to the streets” Mishra can be heard saying.