RIOTS AND WRONGS

THE VIOLENCE THAT CLAIMED MORE THAN TWO DOZEN LIVES IN THE CAPITAL CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO SEVERAL SLIPPAGES, INCLUDING SLOW RESPONSE FROM POLITICAL LEADERS, NO CURB ON PROVOCATIVE SPEECHES AND A LARGELY INEFFECTUAL DELHI POLICE

- PRATUL SHARMA

By 7:30pm on February 25, more than 72 hours after a group of women had blocked the road outside the Jaffrabad metro station to replicate the protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Shaheen Bagh, authorities used a time-tested technique to tackle the agitators—a nudge and a push. Hours earlier, community elders had visited the spot and local mosques had appealed to the protesters to disperse, saying that their names were being used to incite violence in the city and discredit the movement. Finally, the police swooped in, asking the protesters to clear the area or move to nearby Seelampur, where a similar sit-in by women had been on for a month, but which had not blocked the key arterial road.

Unfortunately, the textbook technique was used too late. For the past three days, the densely populated North East Delhi, which shares its border with Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, had been on fire. Groups of young, armed men had clashed, killing and maiming, setting religious places on fire and burning shops. What started as a flareup between the pro- and anti-CAA camps had turned into communal riots. At least 27 people lost their lives, including two security personnel, in the worst episode of violence in the capital since the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The Delhi Police, which had failed to prevent the riots then, were found wanting again. They were outnumbered and were, at their worst, mute spectators.

All this happened as India was hosting US President Donald Trump, who, on his maiden official visit, was taken to two places closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi—Sabarmati Ashram and Rajghat. By the time Trump left, Gandhi’s enduring message of non-violence lay in tatters.