Capital wounds

How communal fissures, intelligence lapses and police incompetence stoked the Delhi fire

- PRATUL SHARMA AND NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA

On February 24, when violence broke out at Yamuna Vihar in Delhi, around 60 students were preparing for competitive exams at Horizon Academy, one of several coaching institutes lining National Highway 9. After burning down a neighbouring petrol pump, the rioters began targeting the academy. They broke its window panes, but could not force open the wooden door. Inflamed, the angry mob began torching vehicles outside.

Trapped inside were students and staff, Hindus and Muslims. “It was harrowing,” said Navneet Gupta, who owns Horizon Academy. “Many students were crying. Four or five policemen were with us; they had taken shelter [from the violence]. We asked them if they would go out and control the riot. They said they would rather stay inside. It was only in the evening, when the streets fell silent, that the policemen went out.”

Workers at the petrol pump told a similar story. “There were many policemen outside when the mob came,” said Ramnath Mishra, a security guard. “As the rioters grew in number, the policemen and a few employees climbed a wall and escaped.”

After the rioters faced retaliation, they began targeting shops of Muslims. Haji Shareef Ahmed, who sold automobile spare parts and electric rickshaws at Bhajanpura, said that his shops were torched as the police dragged its heels. “I lost more than ₹60 lakh,” he said.

The delay in police action is a common thread in stories of Delhi’s worst riots in 35 years. Policemen told THE WEEK that they feared being lynched by the mobs. There were two full days of violence before the police finally cracked the whip and imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on riot-hit areas.