Syed Khalique Ahmed | India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, MAY 1—In a hard-hitting letter to Delhi Police Commissioner S N Srivastava, Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav has accused the Delhi Police of indulging into “witch-hunting of anti-CAA protesters”.
Appreciating that the Delhi police was also taking the Delhi riots investigation ahead while at the same time ensuring that the lockdown is also effectively implemented, Yadav said that there was something that worried him and many other law-abiding citizens in the country.
“From media reports, it appears that the investigation into Delhi riots seems to have turned into a witch-hunt of anti-CAA protesters. With each passing step in the investigations, it is getting difficult to distinguish whether Delhi police is focused on arresting the culprits behind the riots or on implicating and arresting those who led a democratic and peaceful protest against the CAA”, Yadav remarked, putting a question mark on independent and unbiased investigation of the police.
“At a time when students of Jamia Millia Islamia like Meeran Haider and Safoora Zargar, and civil society activists like Ishrat Jahan and Khalid Saifi are languishing in jails and have reportedly been charged with draconian laws like UAPA(Unlawful Activities Prevention Act), it is sad to see that those who delivered provocative public speeches right before the riots, are roaming free”, Yadav, a well-known pan-India civil rights activist commented, pointing fingers towards the allegedly biased investigation being done by the Delhi police in February riots.
Drawing attention of the police chief towards “provocative speeches” delivered by BJP leaders during Delhi assembly elections, he said, “I am sure you would have heard the provocative speeches by Union Minister Anurag Thakur and the ruling party leaders Kapil Mishra. It is surprising that they have not been arrested, not even interrogated, despite obvious evidence against them being publicly available. Even the man who fired shots near the site of Shaheen Bagh protest is out on bail. Delhi Police does not seem to be making any attempt to even appear to be even-handed in its approach. To anyone watching this investigation unfold, it appears like a selective with-hunt, where the conclusion is pre-fabricated”.
Reminding the Police Commissioner of the vandalism at the JNU and brutal attack by goons on JNU students four months ago, Yadav said that the Delhi Police had constituted an SIT(Special Investigation Team) but “as someone who watched and suffered violence at JNU meeting, I wrote to the SIT with my testimony but I did not hear anything from the SIT”.
He said, “There is nothing in the public domain about what happened to that (JNU) investigation. Not a single person has been arrested in the case. Those who admitted on TV stings to have taken part in the violence, have not even been called for questioning”.
Calling the JNU inquiry a “sham”, Swaraj India chief said, “You can understand why the inquiry looks like a sham, or worse, a hatched job being carried out at the behest of the ruling party”.
Appealing the Police Commissioner “to ensure that the inquiry into Delhi riots is not allowed to degenerate into a witch-hunt”, Yadav said, “Any step that Delhi Police takes reflects on the overall policing of the country and sets an example of police departments of other states”.
He hoped that “Delhi Police would live up to the best of professional standards and the highest constitutional duties”.
