It was 23 February 2020 when the months-long anti-CAA stir in the country reached a crescendo in the form of bloodcurdling anti-Hindu riots in the country’s capital, Delhi. The riots continued for days when the northeast region of Delhi witnessed unprecedented levels of violence, resulting in the deaths of over 50 people.
A year since the horrifying anti-Hindu riots convulsed Delhi, OpIndia spoke to the residents of the riot-hit northeast Delhi region to get understand the prevailing ground situation. One of the eyewitnesses of the communal flare-up made a sensational revelation that the volunteers of the Khalsa organisation, who had come to extend help to the victims in the wake of riots discriminated between Muslim and Hindu victims.
Speaking to OpIndia, Rahul Sharma (name changed) who lives in the Chandbagh area where Ankit Sharma was brutally murdered amidst chants of Allahu Akbar, contended that the workers of the Khalsa organisation disproportionately helped the Muslim victims of the riots while extending only token help to the Hindu victims.
The Delhi anti-Hindu riots have been one of the brute and macabre displays of street violence displayed by the Islamist mobs in recent times. 53 people died in the riots from both communities, Hindus and Muslims. The most ghastly cases that emerged from the riots were the murders of IB staffer Ankit Sharma and sweet-shop worker Dilbar Negi. While Dilbar Negi was dismembered and burnt alive, Ankit Sharma was mutilated, murdered and dumped in a Chand Bagh drain by a Muslim mob spearheaded by AAP leader Tahir Hussain.
“Months after the violence broke out in the region, Khalsa members were seen in the locality helping in the rehabilitation of the victims. However, the support was marred with discrimination. The Khalsa members discriminated against Hindus and extended help predominantly to the Muslim victims,” the eyewitness said.
“Out of their 100 per cent of assistance, 90 per cent was directed towards the Muslim victims while the remaining 10 per cent was for the Hindus,” the eyewitness added.
Arvind Kejriwal government discriminated between Hindus and Muslims after the Delhi anti-Hindu riots: Eyewitness
Besides the discrimination from the Khalsa organisation, the eyewitness also accused the Kejriwal-led Delhi government of being partisan in helping the riot victims. The person accused the AAP government of being partial in extending relief material to the Hindus and Muslims.
“The AAP government had tremendously discriminated against Hindus and Muslims. The Kejriwal government had sent fruits, food grains to the various mosques in the region for their distribution among the Muslim inhabitants while the Hindus had to stand in long queues outside the ration shops for procuring food items,” the eyewitness said.
Tensions prevailing in Mustafabad after Muslims beat up a Hindu
When asked about the prevailing situation in the region, the eyewitness asserted that there is still an environment of simmering tensions in the region and things are not back to normal. He further added that the situation became tense after a motorbike-borne Hindu youth was mercilessly beaten up by a mob of Muslims in the Muslim-dominated Mustafabad.
“An incident took place in Mustafabad that did not draw much attention. A Hindu youth passing through the area was accosted by a mob of Muslims, who ruthlessly thrashed him. Following the incident, the Hindus in the region went to the area to confront the miscreants. If you light a matchstick, it is bound to catch fire” he said.
