New videos claim BJP MLA’s involvement in 2020 northeast Delhi riots during anti-CAA protest

Days after a fact-finding team – comprising former judges and a former Union home secretary – questioned the role of police during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, a BJP legislator in purported videos boastfully claimed his involvement in the communal clashes.

The videos were filmed from the ‘Virat Hindu Sabha’ event organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s and other Hindu organisations on Sunday. In the purported videos, being circulated across the social media platforms, BJP MLA from Loni Nand Kishor Gurjar acknowledged that he was involved in the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. However, the legislator later on clarified he was referring to the violence in Loni, Ghaziabad.

In several clips, the BJP MLA can be heard saying that he will not desist from killing ‘jihadis’ if they murder any Hindus.

There were some reports that suggested that Gurjar at the event talked about his alleged involvement in the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots.

“What have I to do with riots in Delhi? I did not go there. I said at the event that I was ready with 25,000 people at Loni so no riots took place here even as riots happened in Delhi,” Gurjar told PTI over the phone.

He was addressing the crowd wherein he reportedly said: “Riots happened in Delhi over CAA. The Jehadis started killing Hindus. You people were there you let us in. I was accused of entering Delhi with 2.5 lakh people.”

“Hum to samjhane ke liye gaye the lekin hum par police ne mukadma darj kar diya ki humne jehadiyon ko marne ka kaam kiya (We went there to explain to the people but police registered a case against us that we killed jihadis),” Gurjar could be heard saying in the purported video. He also said that he will not desist from killing “jihadis” if they kill any Hindus.

Gurjar said he has seen some videos on social media but they had been “misinterpreted”.

The Sunday event, organised against the killing of a Hindu youth Manish from Sundar Nagari in Northeast Delhi earlier this month, has sparked controversy for alleged hate speeches by participants, as per media reports.

Netizens reacted sharply to the news with many criticizing the role of police in letting such events be held where open calls for violence were made by political leaders with full impunity.

This portal in a report, Boycott Muslim call event: Delhi Police files FIR, albeit with mild Section, has already highlighted the ‘half-baked approach of the police in bringing the culprit to book.

An FIR has been filed against the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the other organisers of the event, police said on Monday.

The VHP dismissed the claim that permission for the event was not taken from the city police as “laughable” and said police personnel were deployed at the venue of the event in Dilshad Garden, reported the PTI.

VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal said: “Let alone permission, we fixed the venue at the Ramlila Ground in Dilshad Garden after suggestions and recommendations from senior police officers.”

Last week, a fact-finding committee – comprising former judges and a former Union home secretary – on the February 2020 communal riots in north-east Delhi concluded that despite Delhi Police leadership “receiving at least six internal alerts from the Special Branch and the Intelligence units on February 23 – the day when riots began – additional forces were deployed only on February 26.” The alerts did warn that violence between the communities could escalate, according to the report.

The Wire, referring to the report, claimed that the Union home ministry conspicuously delayed deploying additional forces in the violence-hit areas, even as the communal riots continued unabated between February 23 and 26, 2020.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM