On the 24th and 25th of February 2020, India’s national capital Delhi saw large-scale anti-Hindu riots which marked the culmination of the hostility, hatred, and anger spread by the anti-CAA protests by the Islamists in Shaheen Bagh and other areas. Shahdara, Maujpur, Bhajanpura, Brahmapuri, and other parts of northeast Delhi witnessed violence perpetrated by the Islamists. 53 people died in these riots while more than 200 people were left injured.
While many people wish to look at the Delhi Riots 2020 in isolation, the sequence of events starting right from the 1st of December 2019 proves otherwise. It proves that the violence was a concerted effort to push India toward anarchy. It proves that the Delhi Riots was no anti-Muslim pogrom, it was indeed, a well-oiled plan against Hindus.
OpIndia had extensively covered the anti-Hindu riots, which were falsely presented by the mainstream media as an anti-Muslim pogrom, and established facts documenting tragic cries of Hindus which would otherwise have gone unheard.
The damage to the property in these riots had been enormous. An Intelligence Bureau Constable was murdered in the riots along with a Head Constable of the Delhi Police. Amidst all of this, one gun-wielding man was spotted brandishing his gun at the Police and firing shots. The rioter was identified as Shahrukh. A Hindu man Dilbar Negi was burnt to death after his hands and legs were chopped off by Jihadis. Delhi was in the grip of communal violence ever since the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act. What Delhi saw in these anti-Hindu riots was only the crescendo of a fire that was lit by radicals months ago.
How it all began
The violence began on the 15th of December when Muslim mobs ran riot through the national capital. Amanatullah Khan, a prominent MLA of the Aam Aadmi Party, and Delhi’s Sunni Waqf Board chief was spotted in Jamia Nagar ahead of the violence. Chants of ‘Hinduon se Azadi’ were raised in the same area that very day. Buses were also set on fire during those violent protests. On the same night, the Delhi Police cracked down on the Jamia Milia Islamia University and entered the campus to flush out the miscreants.
Two days later, massive riots broke out in Seelampur as Delhi turned into a war zone. A school bus was attacked and set on fire as well. The mob taunted the policemen to run after them, following which stones were pelted. Peace returned to the national capital following the escalation on the 17th of December but it was an uneasy peace. Police presence was still high given the security concerns. On the 27th of December, security was again heightened at Seelampur and drones were deployed for surveillance. Amidst all of this, the road continued to be blocked by the protesters at Shaheen Bagh.
Through the month of January, the roadblock caused by the Shaheen Bagh protesters became the focal point for the Delhi Assembly Elections.
By the month of February, the ordinary people of Delhi were incensed at the prolonged protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. On the 2nd of February, counter-protests were organized at Shaheen Bagh against the road blockade caused by the anti-CAA brigade. This was three days after a minor had opened fire at the anti-CAA protests in Jamia and only a day after Kapil Gujjar, associated with the Aam Aadmi Party, had fired three shots at Shaheen Bagh.
The circumstances in the fourth week of February provided for the manifestation of a perfect storm. US President Donald Trump was due for an official visit to India on the 24th of February. On the 22nd of February, the protesters at Shaheen Bagh set seven conditions to end their illegal occupation of the public road. It was the fourth day of the mediation talks.
The conditions were preposterous, to put it in mild terms. It was demanded that all the cases against the students of Jamia Milia Islamia University be revoked. It was also demanded that all cases against ‘youngsters’ who were booked for the Shaheen Bagh protests be revoked. In addition to all of this, the protesters also demanded that cognizance be taken of the death of people in the anti-CAA ‘protests’ across India. And, of course, they also demanded that the NPR exercise not be carried out at the national capital. The nature of these demands proved that the mediation efforts were not going too well.
The same day these preposterous demands were made to end the blockade of the road, a group of over 500 Muslim women gathered near the Jafrabad Metro Station and blocked road No. 66, which connects Seelampur to Maujpur and Yamuna Vihar. Certain ‘concerned’ citizens who oppose the CAA claim that the women were incited into blocking the roads by activists associated with the Far-Left women rights group Pinjra Tod. They also claimed that violence was incited by the Pinjra Tod activists.
Date: 24th February 2023, Place: Delhi
On the day Donald Trump arrived in India for his official visit, the 24th of February, widespread anarchy and chaos erupted across the national capital. Muslim mobs went on a rampage again in Delhi and a head constable of the Delhi Police lost his life. A petrol pump was set on fire at Bhajanpura in East Delhi and many vehicles were burnt. Another DCP was injured during clashes between two groups in Delhi’s Gokulpuri.
In the midst of all this, the photograph of a certain gun-wielding rioter wearing a maroon/red t-shirt has gone viral on social media. Some people claimed that the gunman who opened fire at police during the Delhi riots is from the ‘rightwing’ while others claimed that the said person is a Muslim rioter. Later, the gunman was identified as Shahrukh and was arrested.
The dead body of an Intelligence Bureau constable was recovered from a drain in Chand Bagh. A Hindu man was murdered in Brahmapuri amidst chants of ‘Allah Hu Akbar’ and ‘Nara e Taqbeer’. The death toll has reached 37 and scores of people have been injured. 19-year-old Vivek was attacked in his own shop, a drill machine was bored into his head. A great deal of property was damaged across the national capital.
OpIndia ground reports
OpIndia has meticulously chronicled the horrors meted out to the Hindus from December 2019 and which finally culminated in the gruesome riots in Delhi in February 2020. OpIndia’s detailed report on the chronology of the event that led up to the riots is also available on Kindle. It has a comprehensive account of the loss of life and property in riots and how Hindus were targeted.
In order to determine the origins and severity of the attack, OpIndia canvassed the victims’ families affected by the violence. It was found that Hindus were attacked during this riot only because they are Hindus. Muslims killed 51-year-old Hindu man Vinod Kumar in the Brahmapuri area because his bike had a sticker of ‘Jai Shri Ram’. As a result, Hindus in the nearby areas were seen scratching their bikes to remove similar stickers. Hindus also preferred to cut the sacred thread Kalawa tied on their wrists as it would identify them as Hindus posing a risk to their lives. People told OpIndia that faith can remain intact in their hearts but saving their lives was their priority. The details of the barbarism by the rioters were spine-chilling.
While the count was still on, the brutality unleashed by Islamist rioters during the Delhi riots on one youth named Dilbar Negi went unnoticed by the national media. A young man from Uttarakhand living in Shahdara, Delhi, who according to GTB hospital data died of burn injuries, was actually brutally hacked to death by the rioters on the evening of 23 February.
Negi, a resident of Thalisain Block located in the Pauri district of Uttarakhand, was burnt alive by the rioters who first brutally chopped off his limbs before throwing him into a shop gutted in the fire. The aggrieved family member told OpIndia that they somehow saved themselves from the frenzied mob but could not save him.
Another incident, the brutality of which stood out, was of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer, Ankit Sharma, who was brutally murdered and his tortured remains were recovered from a nearby drain. His brother maintained in his various conversations with the media that his brother was murdered by Tahir Hussain and a Muslim mob that was working under his command. Police personnel Ratan Lal was also killed in the riots. Post-mortem confirmed that he was killed by a bullet injury.
OpIndia meets devastated family of 20-year-old Dilbar Singh Negi
On the evening of 24 February, when violence erupted in Delhi, 20-year-old Dilbar Singh Negi was burnt by Islamist rioters after they brutally chopped off his limbs with a sword. The rest of his body was tossed into the fire like a piece of meat by the blood-thirsty mob. OpIndia had met his family in July 2020, right after the Delhi anti-Hindu riots where he was murdered by a Muslim mob.
Dilbar’s younger brother, Devendra, stated that he has made compromises over time, but his parents are still unwilling to accept that Dilbar would never return home. When the sons return home before every festival, their eyes begin to glitter with the expectation that Dilbar will also return. They were hoping to see their son again during the Thaulu-Tyaar festival, but their hopes were dashed when his mortal remains came home.
Hindu shops were specifically targetted
OpIndia visited Delhi’s Chand Bagh area on the 27th of February 2020, in the aftermath of the riots, which, like many other areas in the National Capital, was burning as Islamists ran amok, resorting to stone-pelting, arson, and vandalism, destroying public properties worth crores and hurting police personnel and civilians in the ensuing mayhem. The Muslim rioters read the signboards of the shops with the name of the shops before deciding which shop to burn and which to spare. While Hindu shops were ruined, ransacked, and burned, the Muslim shops were left untouched, recounted the locals. This meant that these Muslim rioters had, in advance, gathered detailed information about the Hindus residing in Chand Bagh.
Tahir Hussain’s building housed 3000 rioters
A crowd of Muslims, mostly youths, approached from Mustafabad in Delhi. They all gathered on the bridge of Chand Bagh. From there, they reached Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain’s building. They went to the terrace, from where they started throwing stones and petrol bombs. In our ground reportage in February 26-27th 2020, we were told that there were more than 3000 Muslim rioters in Tahir Hussain’s building.
It becomes imperative to note here that Tahir Hussain is the AAP leader from whose terrace, not just petrol bombs, but sacks full of brick pieces, stones, acid packs and even catapults to hurl the stones and petrol bombs were discovered.
Moreover, it has emerged that slain IB officer Ankit Sharma was dragged into Tahir Hussain’s house before his murder, and his body was found in a ditch behind Hussain’s house. In fact, the locals also revealed to OpIndia how IB officer Ankit Sharma was dragged into Tahir Hussain’s building by Islamists.
Islamist mob forcibly occupied a Shiv Mandir
Hindu residents of Delhi’s Chand Bagh continued to share the horrific accounts of how their houses, shops and places of worship are being attacked, torched, and vandalised by the frenzied Islamist fundamentalists who had converted the anti-CAA protest to anti-Hindu riots in the national capital.
Apart from claiming the lives of several Hindus, these frenzied Islamist goons also vandalised and burned Hindu-owned shops and many temples. One such Shiv Mandir in Delhi’s Chand Bagh area which OpIndia visited, was also a witness to these riots.
It was the fourth day after the brutal, violent anti-Hindu riots that have engulfed Delhi, and have uprooted the lives of thousands of people living in these areas.
Victims shared their horrific ordeal with OpIndia
The first thing we saw upon entering the riot-hit areas of Chand Bagh is a ruined, gutted shop. Passing cordons of security personnel, we entered Karawal Nagar, the area where AAP councillor Tahir Hussain’s house is located.
We moved on. In the lane just opposite Hussain’s house, behind a closed gate, we saw faces, over two dozen faces that were watching the march of the security forces with scared, wary eyes. No media person had turned towards this part yet.
We approached those people. We asked them are they just scared or are they the victims of these riots too. Then the floodgates opened and stories of horror and brutality started flowing. We wanted to know the stories that could not make it to media coverage in these four days. Then we met a man who could not control his emotions upon seeing us. It was Shyam Sahni, the ‘Chaiwala’ in these areas who were running the tiny ‘Syam Tea Stall’ for many years. Not anymore.
Shyam Sahni was sitting bewildered on the floor, with his wife and son. Upon asking he told us his story.
Shyam further told us that he watched this horror unfold hiding in a bylane, but he could not do anything. Then he heard that a large Muslim mob has attacked the houses of Hindus in the Yamuna Vihar area. Since Shyam’s house was located in that area, he ran fearing for the lives of his wife and children. He reached his home and told his wife to take their four children and leave, away from the Muslim-majority locality and to the house of a family friend in another lane.
Shyam narrated that they were so scared that they spent the rest of the day and night holed up in a corner, hungry and thirsty.
Muslims were prepared for riots, women, children were armed to attack Hindus: Eyewitness tells OpIndia
Mostly all the eyewitnesses OpIndia got in touch with hours after the Delhi anti-Hindu riots in 2020, revealed that the Islamists had been preparing for these anti-Hindu riots for a long time under the pretext of anti-CAA protest.
On condition of anonymity, the Hindu woman, living in a rented house in Sonia Vihar, told OpIndia, “All the Islamist rioters had hoarded bricks and stones inside their respective houses in advance. They were constantly bringing out the bricks and stones from there. Seeing all this, I was so scared that I could not even sleep the whole night. The area we live in, predominantly belongs to the Muslims and our locality is the only locality which houses Hindus.”
Shiv Vihar ground report
While riots raged on in Delhi, OpIndia published several ground reports that showed Islamist aggression against Hindus. One such report was from Shiv Vihar, located in Karavar Nagar in North East Delhi, which saw widespread riots by Muslims against Hindus.
There are two schools in Shiv Vihar. One is Rajdhani Public School and the other is called DRP Public School. While the Rajdhani school belongs to a Muslim, DRP is owned by one Mr Sharma. During the anti-Hindu Delhi riots, one of these schools was gutted and the other was made a den to perpetrate violence. It does not really take a lot to guess which school met what fate.
Rajdhani school, which is owned by a Muslim was turned into a fortress from where the Islamists launched attacks in the area. Rioters were given protection and shelter in that school. It is from this school that stones were pelted, guns were fired and petrol bombs were hurled. On the rooftop of this school, our reporter found several slingshots that were used to hurl heavy stones and petrol bombs.
When OpIndia reporters reached the rooftop of the Rajdhani school, it was evident that the preparation for riots that were stockpiled could not have been collected in a day or two.
The media focused on the breakage at Rajdhani school extensively, probably because the school is owned by a Muslim, but they did not reveal that the breakage was actually just a drama by the Islamists. The fact is that Rajdhani school had mild vandalism while DRT school was completely gutted.
Women from Chand Bagh told OpIndia how ‘rioters took off our girl’s clothes, sent them back naked’
OpIndia had then met many Hindu victims few of whom had narrated to us how the Islamists who had unleashed mayhem in various parts of Delhi misbehaved with Hindu women and girls. A woman told us on conditions of anonymity, “We have come out of our houses for the first time in three days. Whatever these people (Muslims of the area) did with us, is being reported, but they didn’t even leave our daughters returning from tuition. They took off their clothes and sent them to us naked. In front of our daughters, the rioters took off their own clothes and gestured indecently. We can never dream of ever wanting to kill our neighbours, but it is evident from their preparation that they wanted to finish us all off that day”.
Chand Bagh ground report
When OpIndia was reporting from the ground to cover the 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi riots, another horrific tale of the Muslim brutality inflicted upon the Hindus from Tahir Hussain’s bungalow had come to the fore. Muslims who lived for years intertwined with Hindu families in Moonga Nagar suddenly started baying for their blood. In one such incident, Muslim residents of the region did not even spare the wedding house whose Hindu women used to address neighbourhood Muslim men as “Bhaijaan” and greet them with a “salam”.
Preparations for the girl’s wedding were underway. There was a gathering of relatives. A feast was being arranged to welcome the guests. The house was on the second floor of the building adjacent to Tahir Hussain’s bungalow. According to the eyewitnesses, a Muslim mob from the terrace of Hussain’s bungalow wantonly attacked the wedding house.
Muslim women rained down acid from the terrace, slingshots were used to hurl petrol bombs
The situation in Karawal Nagar, one of the highly sensitive neighbourhoods in northeast Delhi was the area which arguably bore the maximum devastation. The OpIndia team decided to visit the strife-torn region to comprehend the ravages of the violence inflicted by the Muslim mob right in the aftermath of the anti-Hindu riots.
On visiting the “Bhagwan Shiva Chowk” in Karawal Nagar’s Shiv Vihar, we saw bricks and stones strewn across the road, giving an impression that the place might have been a witness to a gory-pitched battle. In the adjoining areas, houses owned by Hindus appeared badly damaged and in a deplorable situation.
When we asked about the glaring incongruency with a person who was serving tea and snacks to the security forces deployed in the region, he said that the attack had emanated from the same Muslim houses. Muslim women were also standing on their roofs and attacking the police forces with acid, he added.
Alok Tiwari, another Hindu, succumbed to Muslim hatred
When the OpIndia team visited parts of NorthEast Delhi as part of their ground reporting during anti-Hindu riots, the team reached the home of Alok Tiwari, another Hindu who had fallen prey to the barbarity perpetuated on Hindus by bloodthirsty Islamists under the pretext of anti-CAA protests. Tiwari’s widow told us Alok Tiwari, the sole breadwinner of the house left his house on 26th February, at around 10 AM, never to return again.
Alok Tiwari’s wife kept pleading, no one came to aide her bleeding husband
Speaking to OpIndia, Alok Tiwari’s wife recalled getting a call from Alok’s mobile phone in which the unknown man from the other side informed her about her husband’s injury.
After the phone call from a stranger informing the condition of her husband, Tiwari’s wife rushed to the spot where she saw her husband profusely bleeding. She kept pleading with the bystanders for help no one came to her aid. After an inordinate delay, when the ambulance did not turn up, a local businessman lent his bike to take her husband to the hospital. However, he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Rahul Thakur shot dead by a violent Muslim mob during the Delhi Anti-Hindu riots
When OpIndia reached Rahul Thakur’s house in Brijpuri on Saturday, we found the neighbours trying to console the family. Rahul’s father had his head bowed down, outside the house. He was in RPF and posted in Punjab.
When asked about the incident, an eyewitness recounted, “The violence that started on Monday from Chandbagh was spreading from one place to another with increasing crowds of Muslims. They reached Karajur Nagar, Khajuri, Jafrabad and Shiv Vihar. When the sounds of bricks and stones started coming from all around, everyone went out of their houses to see what was going on.”
The eyewitness said, “We all went out of on the street. Rahul was also with us. It was only then that we saw thousands of Muslim people coming towards us from the Brijpuri mosque, with brick and stone in their hands. Even before we could handle ourselves, a bullet hit Rahul and he fell on the ground holding his stomach.”
15-year-old Dharmendra Verma disappears
Seven days after the anti-Hindu riots started from Chand Bagh in Delhi, an OpIndia team reached Brijpuri, to meet the riot victims. Some Hindu victims locked their homes and left, while the remaining Hindu victims were imprisoned in their homes for seven days. Something similar was seen in 15-year-old Dharmendra Varma’s locality.
The family members brought the distraught mother, worried about her son, down the stairs, but she was unable to speak anything. Then, the elder brother Dhirendra Verma said, “Muslim women started protesting against the CAA on Sunday itself. Around five o’clock in the evening, Dharmendra Verma left the house, saying that he should go outside. Late in the evening, it was reported that violence had started towards Jafrabad. It was almost eight o’clock at night, but the younger brother had not returned home yet. After this, we tensed family members went out to search for him. We could not find any clue till late in the night.”
My brother was killed by Jihad, every masjid and madarsa must be raided: Brother of Hindu from Dalit community murdered in Delhi Anti-Hindu Riots
Dinesh Kumar Khatik was one of the individuals killed in anti-Hindu riots in Delhi. OpIndia had a conversation with Dinesh Kumar Khatik’s brother Suresh and he clearly said that his brother’s life has been taken by jihad – the jihad of Islamic fundamentalists. He said that the whole of Mustafabad killed his brother. By Mustafabad, he meant a Muslim-dominated area. This is how the gruesome murder unfolded.
Suresh made a very big charge while talking to us. He said that if the sticks and knives are found in the house of the Hindus, then the police throws them in jail, while weapons are kept in the house of the Muslims and absolutely nothing is done about it.
OpIndia learnt that on the day Dinesh Kumar Khatik was shot, Muslim rioters had created such a situation that he could not even be taken to the hospital.
Muslim rioters kept a dead body in their house for 24 hours
While OpIndia was reporting from the ground we came across many victims who revealed how there were many instances where the rioters had weaved stories of their innocence and victimhood and held back the bodies of the deceased for more than 24 hours to prove the person a victim of riots and claim compensation of Rs 10 lakh from the Kejriwal government.
One such story is that of Delhi’s riot-affected area of Jaffrabad. A person living in the neighbourhood who came to console the family of the deceased Rahul Thakur claimed, “a fellow Muslim rioter died in the attack led by thousands of Muslims. However, the rioters instead of taking him to the hospital took him to his home. The body of the deceased rioter remained in his house for about 24 hours until the Kejriwal government announced compensation for those killed. As soon as recompense was announced, an ambulance was called and his body was sent to the hospital for post-mortem. The body is buried after the autopsy was completed.”
Muslims vandalised their own shops to claim victimhood: Eyewitness tells OpIndia
A week after the violence in Delhi, we met the riot victims in Brijpuri. During this, we got a piece of startling information. This information came from the person who runs the shop near the Hero showroom and also stays at the shop for 12 hours a day and keeps an eye on every activity nearby. According to eyewitnesses, “Muslim women started protesting on Sunday in the name of CAA protest. After this, everyone started preparing. On Monday, violence erupted from Chand Bagh. Muslims were first looting Hindu shops and then setting them on fire.”
Eyewitnesses living in Brijpuri further state, “Not only this, these people (Muslims) all knew what was going to happen next. The only Muslim bike showroom in the area, which used to have hundreds of bikes for sale, had taken all the bikes out of the showroom to a safe place at 5 am on February 26, just before violence broke out in the area. After this, the rioters themselves first vandalized the showroom to show themselves as victims and then took the counter out of the showroom and set it on fire.”
The eyewitnesses claim that the ‘peaceful protests’ at Shaheen Bagh are only a facade, the real preparations were made to violently target Hindus in these (Jaffrabad, Chandbagh, Karawal Nagar etc) areas.
Muslims in the region knew beforehand that riots are going to break out
Speaking to OpIndia, another woman eyewitnesses laid bare the horrors of the atrocity meted out on Hindus in Karawal Nagar. “Muslims went and collected their children from school beforehand. We got to know of the situation quite late. How did they know that something is about to happen? Because they knew about it,” an eyewitness said.
OpIndia groud report on how scarred Hindus are being forced to abandon homes after Delhi riots
OpIndia in its extensive reportage on the Delhi riots has laid bare the horrors of the atrocity meted out on Hindus from December 2019, which finally culminated in the gruesome riots in Delhi in February 2020.
OpIndia ground report in August 2020 revealed how almost 150-200 Hindu families concentrated in three lanes of Delhi’s three Muslim dominated areas- Subhash Mohalla, Madhuban Mohalla and Mohanpuri area in Maujpur had put up posters of ‘The house is on sale due to fear of members of a particular community’ outside their houses as they are being terrorised by the Muslim residents of the locality.
The Hindu victims took our correspondent through the lane and bylane of Mohanpuri area in Maujpur, which were amongst the worst affected by the Muslim transgression. Almost all the Hindu shops and houses which were attacked, looted or burnt down months ago had posters on their walls read that “the house was on sale”.
Such was the fear among the Hindus living in these lanes that they had barricaded the lanes at their own cost and had kept security who guard these lanes at night. The Hindus said that they were being terrorised by the Muslims in the area who warned them against praying or playing bhajans or even reciting Hanuman Chalisa for that matter, in the temples. These were the same people who regularly indulge in playing azan on loudspeakers, said a Hindu on conditions of anonymity.
Speaking to OpIndia, the Hindus also said that in the aftermath of the riots, Muslim neighbours had made it difficult for their women to even come out of the houses.
Speaking of how Hindus were falsely named and implicated in the Delhi riots, the Hindus recollected the incident, where 16 Hindus were taken under custody for the murder of one Sahil’s father Parvez, solely on the basis that their mobile phones were active within 500 metres of the scene of the crime. They said that neither a charge sheet was filed against these 16 people nor were they granted bail. In fact, using this as an example, Muslims often threaten other Hindus of a similar fate, recollected one of the Hindu victims.
It is pertinent to note here, that many discrepancies had appeared in case of the alleged murder of the aforementioned Parvez. According to the recorded statements by family members and the FIRs, Parvez had died 3 times in 3 different ways and in 2 different locations.
A year after the horrible anti-Hindu riots in Delhi
Workers of Khalsa org and Kejriwal govt discriminated against Hindu victims: An eyewitness account after 1 year of Delhi anti-Hindu riots
A year after the horrifying anti-Hindu riots convulsed Delhi, OpIndia spoke to the residents of the riot-hit northeast Delhi region to 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.
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.
Still living in fear, no compensation yet for losses
In 2021, while life was slowly limping back to normal, the vivid memories of the macabre riots that swept the area in February 2020 were still fresh in the minds of the residents. A year after the incident, Gajendra Parihar, the owner of the parking area, spoke to OpIndia.
While speaking to us, Parihar said he had received only Rs 50,000 in compensation as against the colossal loss that he had endured during the riots. Parihar has no hopes of receiving additional aid to compensate for his losses. On the contrary, he burned out his own savings to make up for the losses. He even added that those whose cars were ransacked and later burnt did not receive any compensation for their losses. Gajendra had, in all, borne a loss of Rs 13 lakhs.
Besides Gajendra, OpIndia also spoke to the caretaker of the aforementioned parking area. The man said the stone-pelting had started an hour after midnight of 23 February 2020, adding that a large number of petrol bombs were hurled from the terrace of the Rajdhani School to set the cars on fire. The caretaker stated that children playing marbles were also among the casualties of those killed due to slingshots. About 250 to 300 people had barged inside the parking area, he said.
Two years after the horrible anti-Hindu riots in Delhi
Two years after the Delhi anti-Hindu riots shook the capital city of India, the OpIndia team decided to pay a visit to the bereaved kin of those who were mercilessly slaughtered by the bloodthirsty rabid Islamist mobs on the ghastly nights of February 24th and 25th 2020 to learn about what their lives have been like in these last 2 years.
Walking through the alleyways of the localities which was worst affected during the 2020 Delhi anti-Hindu riots, we sensed an eerie silence coupled with an oddly unsettling atmosphere. Even after two years, none were ready to speak on camera, exemplifying how afraid the families are even today. These are areas where Hindu and Muslim houses or shops are adjacent to each other.
Two years passed but the destitute family of Naresh Saini was struggling to make ends meet. The family’s financial situation had deteriorated since Naresh Saini’s death. Many political leaders who had attended Saini’s funeral after his heinous murder had gone on to make lofty promises, but it’s a pity that no one had returned to check on his family in the last two years.
Similar was the case with the family of ‘DJ Wale’ Vinod Kumar, who was brutally beaten to death in front of his son Nitin Kumar alias Monu on the ghastly night of 24 February 2020.
The OpIndia team decided to pay a visit to the bereaved family of deceased Vinod Kumar in order to better comprehend the ramifications of the Muslim mob’s brutality, which they were, unfortunately, victims of.
Even after two years, residents of Khajur Wali Gali still mourn the untimely demise of ‘DJ Wale’ Vinod Kumar. Their eyes are filled with rage as they recount the horror perpetrated by Islamists on the father-son duo.
Nitin Kumar, who too had received as many as 40 stitches after being brutally assaulted during the 2020 anti-Hindu riots, was furious at the Delhi government’s offer of only Rs 1 lakh in compensation for his father’s death. Besides that, he said he had received no compensation from any other source.
Even after two years locals fight shy of talking about victims Dilbar Negi, Ankit Sharma; family, witness leave the city
The two brutal incidents that created distress among the Hindu community all over India were murder tales of Dilbar Singh Negi and IB Officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 Northeast Delhi anti-Hindu riots. On the second yearly observance of the grieving riots, team OpIndia visited the Shiv Vihar, Karwal Nagar area and the Chandbagh area in North East Delhi where the most destruction was inflicted.
Son of Anil Pal, the owner of Anil Sweet House revealed to OpIndia that the family of Dilbar Negi had been offered help by the Uttarakhand State government. He also said that the Pal family had provided monetary help to Negi’s family. Refusing to give further details, he said that whatever happened was in the past and it was better to let it go off. “Let it go now, it has been two years since the riots and now there is peace here. It doesn’t look like something horrifying like that will ever happen again here”, he said.
Children of deceased Ratan Lal decorate house with father’s sketches to fill the void
From the 24th through the 26th of February, Delhi was engulfed in massive communal riots, where Islamic mobs targeted Hindu businesses and homes. Delhi Police Head Constable Ratan Lal was one of the first victims. Ratan Lal was mercilessly lynched by a crazed Islamist mob while he was trying to do his duty on main Wazirabad Road, Chand Bagh. The 42-year-old police officer lived with his family in Amrit Vihar, Burari, Delhi.
Ratan Lal’s family still resides in the same Amrit Vihar house today. Construction work was going on outside the house when the OpIndia team arrived at Amrit Vihar two years later to meet the bereaved family.
“I don’t want to remember those old days,” Poonam, wife of the late policeman, told OpIndia. I’m attempting to recuperate from the memories of those events with tremendous difficulty. I’ve managed to take care of myself in order to provide for my children. Many of the government’s pledges have not yet been delivered. The Delhi government gave us one crore rupees in two instalments. Many others had made promises at the time that had not been kept. It was sought that a gate is built in his (Ratan Lal) name in Burari, but this request was also ignored. We had also urged CM Arvind Kejriwal to provide me with a job based on my educational qualification, but that request, too, has been ignored, rued Poonam.
The state of two schools two years after Delhi riots
Two years after the anti-CAA Delhi riots, OpIndia revisited the two schools- Rajdhani School and DRP School, that had become the centres of discussions in those days. The terrace of the Rajdhani school owned by Faisal Farukh housed the grand catapult that pelted the petrol bombs aimed at the Hindu properties in the surroundings. Yatendra Sharma’s DRP school is not much away from here. This school was vandalized in the Delhi riots. After two years, both these schools ran normally as before.
First chargesheet filed by Delhi police in Delhi riots case
Seven months after the gruesome riots, the Delhi police had filed the first chargesheet detailing the conspiracy that was hatched to unleash violence in the streets of Delhi.
In the 2700 page chargesheet filed pertaining to FIR 59/2020, the Delhi Police dedicate almost 700 pages to the chronology of the conspiracy hatched. Confirming what OpIndia had already pointed out earlier, the February riots were inextricably linked to the December violence that was unleashed in various parts of the country such as Delhi, UP and other places.
The role of former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain in the entire series of events had become increasingly clear. Ex-JNU student Umar Khalid had also featured prominently in the charge-sheet.
What was interesting in the chargesheet, wass that the Delhi Police had managed to piece together the conspiracy right from the 5th of December, a day after the Citizenship Amendment Bill was tabled in both houses of the parliament.
The charge-sheet said that there was a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the murder of Intelligence Bureau Constable Ankit Sharma. It said that he was specifically targeted by a mob led by Tahir Hussain. According to the charge-sheet, Ankit Sharma was murdered on the 25th of February at Khajuri Khas outside the home of the former AAP Councillor.
Until date, the Delhi Police have filed chargesheets in 414 instances related to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, which claimed 53 lives and injured 581 others. According to police data, 14 people have been convicted thus far, while 36 others have been acquitted. To yet, the police have also filed 433 extra chargesheets with the court.
Authorities have also submitted 433 supplementary chargesheets with the court thus far. The figure is higher than the main chargesheets since, in some cases, two or three additional chargesheets have been filed, according to an official.
Three years on, the inconsistencies and the miscarriage of justice in the Delhi riot case
On the 30th of January 2022, Karkardooma Court in Delhi extended the ‘benefit of the doubt’ to 9 Muslim accused in the Delhi anti-Hindu Riots and acquitted them from charges of rioting, arson and illegal assembly. They were accused of setting a shop and house on fire during the riots and police charge-sheeted them for committing offences punishable under Sections 147-149, 188, 427 and 436 IPC.
The acquitted persons were Mohd. Shahnawaz alias Shanu, Shahrukh, Mohd. Shoaib alias Chhutwa, Azad, Md. Faisal, Rashid alias Raja, Ashraf Ali, Parvej and Rashid alias Monu.
On January 18th, the Delhi High Court granted bail to six persons named Mohd Tahir, Shahrukh, Mohd Faizal, Mohd Shoaib, Rashid and Parvez in the Gokulpuri murder case related to the Delhi Riots of February 2020. The bail was granted by Justice Subramonium Prasad. The six were accused of vandalism and setting Anil Sweet Corner on fire “resulting in the death of 22-year-old Dilbar Negi”.
While the wisdom of the court must be respected, the judgement raises a question about the law being applied unequally in different cases. Only a few months ago, a Hindu accused, Dinesh Yadav, was convicted on the basis of the shaky testimony of two police officers who were on riot control duty in the area. In fact, from their statements themselves, it was evident that there was no evidence against Yadav whatsoever.
If this is to be considered sacrosanct, one has to ask why the same benefit of the doubt was not extended to Dinesh Yadav and why this parameter was not considered while granting bail to Tahir and others in the Dilbar Negi case.
