On 24th August, the Karkardooma Sessions Court in Delhi granted interim bail for 10 days to Meeran Haider, an accused in the larger conspiracy related to the anti-Hindu Delhi Riots of 2020. Haider was a Jamia student and leader of the RJD youth wing. He was arrested in April 2020 in connection with the Delhi riots case on allegations of coordinating efforts to incite violence during the riots.
Meeran had filed a bail plea in the court, requesting bail on humanitarian grounds due to the passing of his sister’s premature child. His lawyer submitted to the court that Meeran’s sister was without the support of other male family members, as her husband works in the UAE. Furthermore, the lawyer submitted that Meeran had been in continuous custody since 1st April 2020, and had not sought interim bail before.
The prosecution, in its reply, stated that the facts mentioned in the bail plea had been verified. They further mentioned that the sister’s husband was, in fact, in India but was leaving for the UAE on Sunday.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpayi found it justified to grant the applicant the desired relief. The application was allowed, and Meeran was granted interim bail for ten days.
The court imposed several conditions on Meeran. He should not get in touch with any of the witnesses nor tamper with any evidence. He must provide his mobile number to the investigating officer and keep his phone operational throughout the period of interim bail. Additionally, the court stated that during the interim bail period, the accused shall not talk to or give any interviews to the media, including social media.
The regular bail plea is pending before the Delhi High Court, as the trial court had previously rejected Meeran’s regular bail plea.
Role of Meeran Haider in anti-Hindu Delhi riots
Meeran Haider was a PhD student at Jamia Millia Islamia University. He was arrested in April 2020 in connection with rioting and criminal conspiracy related to the anti-Hindu riots in northeast Delhi. Meeran Haider made some shocking revelations regarding the anti-Hindu riots that took place in 2020.
Meeran was the president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal youth wing’s Delhi unit and a member of the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC). He revealed that the anti-Hindu riots were planned after the Jamia violence and that he was tasked with gathering a crowd for the protests and demonstrations in Delhi and overseeing other arrangements.
During questioning by the Delhi Police, he disclosed that the riot was sponsored by the Popular Front of India (PFI). Meeran told the police that he had personally received Rs 5 lakhs to engineer the riots. The Muslim-dominated areas of Delhi, such as Zafarabad and Seelampur, were chosen, and Meeran and others were assigned the task of collecting knives, petrol, stones, and other materials.
Meeran Haider said he had prepared a register before the riots to maintain a record of all funds being collected for the purpose. He mentioned that the money received as ‘Zakat’ was used to purchase gadgets, weapons, and other items required to carry out the task.
The accused told the police that he traveled to various states to mobilize support, incite people against CAA-NRC, and mentally prepare them for the riots. He claimed to have personally supervised the anti-government demonstrations at at least 20 sites in Delhi. Haider also revealed that he already knew Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi, the two main facilitators of the Delhi anti-Hindu riots.
Speaking on how the horrific attack on Hindus in Delhi was pre-planned, Meeran said that after the Jamia violence and the ‘success’ of the Shaheen Bagh protest, they decided that protests should be held in more Muslim areas of Delhi where there was resentment against the Centre over CAA-NRC.
Discussing the strategy devised to conduct one of the worst communal riots in Delhi in decades, Meeran said it was divided into three phases: protests, roadblocks, and riots.
He divulged that members of DU’s Pinjra Tod group, like Natasha and Devangana, were secretly associated with this movement and were tasked with delivering inflammatory speeches. He was given the responsibility to mobilize the crowd at protest sites such as Shaheen Bagh, Khureji, Seelampur, Jaffarabad, Turkman Gate, Kardampuri, Mustafabad, and Indralok. Meeran reportedly also ran WhatsApp groups to incite riots in Delhi.
He revealed how he roamed around all these places, collected information, and passed it on to the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) to help devise further strategies.
Meeran Haider confessed to knowing many members of the PFI (Popular Front of India), who provided money to incite the communal riots in Delhi, including PFI activists Sajid Mujid and Mohammad Sihad of Kerala, who sent Rs 20,000 to him for the riots.
