Anti-CAA Protests: Delhi Minorities Commission names BJP leaders in its report on Delhi riots

New Delhi, July 17: Delhi Minorities Commission on Thursday said that two shooting attempts at anti-CAA protest sites -- Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia Islamia-- and speeches made by BJP leaders provide background to events that led to the massive riots in the national capital.

According to reports, the fact finding report of the commission blamed the BJP leaders for giving communal speeches that preceded the violence.

Also, it can be seen that BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who has been given a clean chit by Delhi Police, has been mentioned more than 10 times in the panel's report.

"Within hours of the Kapil Mishra's speech on 23 February 2020, violence broke out in various parts of North East Delhi," the report stated.

"Violence started in different pockets almost immediately after the short speech of Kapil Mishra on 23 February 2020 at Maujpur in which he openly called for forcefully removing the protestors at Jafrabad in North East Delhi. The open admission of "not listening" to the police and extralegal tactics should have been seen by the authorities present as inciting violence," the report said.

In the report, it has been questioned that the alleged inaction of the DCP (North-East) Ved Prakash Surya, who "was standing right next to Kapil Mishra when he said "after that we will not listen to the police".

Following the speech, the report states, "different groups/mobs quickly fanned out to the local areas, openly carrying various weapons and arms like petrol bottles/bombs, iron rods, gas cylinders, stones and even firearms".

Meanwhile, the reports stated that as many as 53 people died. The fact-finding report also cited a speech reportedly made by BJP MLA Somasekhara Reddy in which he "cautioned" Muslims against participating in anti-CAA rallies and warned them of "serious repercussions in blatantly divisive and dangerous terms".