On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court granted bail to Jamia Milia Islamia student leader Asif Iqbal Tanha, far-left ‘activists’ Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal in the Anti-Hindu Delhi riots case.
According to the reports, the Delhi High Court granted bail to the UAPA accused Asif Iqbal Tanha, Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita in the Delhi riots case. The Delhi Police had arrested the three far-left ‘activists’ in the case, and a case was registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for their role in the anti-Hindu riots that was unleashed on the streets of Delhi in February last year.
A Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup J Bhambhani granted the bail to the riots accused and asked them to provide Rs 50,000 and two local sureties. In addition, the accused have been asked to surrender their passports and not indulging in activities that would hamper the case.
The High Court has granted bail to the three accused in connection with the FIR 59 filed by the Delhi Police in the Anti-Hindu Delhi riots case. In the FIR 59/2020, a total of 15 people, including Asif Tanha, Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, were named by the Delhi police. The police claimed that Tanha played an active role in orchestrating riots in Delhi during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Asif Tanha – the main conspirator behind Jamia riots
Asif, a Jamia Millia Islamia student and member of the Student Islamist Organization (SIO) since 2014, was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in May for purportedly being a part of a larger conspiracy behind the February riots in northeast Delhi.
In fact, Asif Iqbal had admitted to orchestrating riots and a march of 2500-3000 people from Gate no.7 of Jamia Millia Islamia on December 12. He revealed that Sharjeel Imam gave a provocative speech to encourage ‘protestors’ to execute a ‘chakka jam’ on December 13.
Asif confessed to organising a ‘Gandhi peace march’ on December 15 from the Jamia metro station to the Parliament via Zakir Nagar and Batla House. He stated that the purpose of naming it after Mahatma Gandhi was to lure more people into joining the march. Reportedly, the Delhi police had set up barricades near the Surya Hotel to prevent the ‘protestors’ from surging forward. Asif Iqbal confessed to provoking people to break through the police barricades under the impression that the cops lacked the ‘guts’ to stop them.
However, his plans did not succeed as the police soon resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the unruly mob. The Jamia students then resorted to stone pelting, setting buses on fire, and creating mayhem on the streets of Delhi. As such, both the policemen and the ‘protestors’ were injured during the course of the march.
Asif Iqbal provoked common Muslims to weaponise violence
Asif Iqbal further admitted that he delivered provocative speeches at several places in the country, including Kolkata, Kota, Lucknow, Kanpur, Ujjain, Indore, Jaipur, Patna, Sabzibagh, Araria, Samastipur, Ahmedabad. Reportedly, he urged common Muslims to protest against the Indian and not to shy away from engaging in violence if such a need arose.
Asif added that JNU activist Umar Khalid had suggested the idea of blocking roads and disrupting traffic during the visit of US President Donald Trump to India. The plan of action was then executed by the likes of Meeran Haider and Safoora Zargar, which later culminated into violent riots. Besides his desire to turn India into an Islamic country, he considered the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as anti-Muslim and therefore joined the students of Jamia Milia Islamia in opposing it.
Far-left activist – Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita accused in instigating Anti-Hindu riots
The Delhi police had also arrested two far-left activists of Pinjra Tod – Natasha Narwal and Devangna Kalita for their role in stoking communal violence during the anti-Hindu riots in North-East Delhi in February last year that claimed 53 people and left more than 400 injured.
On May 23, the Special cell of Delhi police had arrested two women named Natasha and Devangna in the North-East Delhi riots case. Both the women are founding members of Pinjra Tod, which was established in 2015.
Some citizens of Seelampur, Jafrabad, and Trans-Yamuna had accused Pinjra Tod and other elite civil society groups of inciting riots in the national capital.
Pinjra Tod claims to be an autonomous collective of women students fighting for a just, accessible, non-discriminatory University and affordable accommodation and has been involved in numerous protests and campaigns of a far-left nature.
