People raise ‘shoot the traitor’ slogans during Kapil Mishra rally

New Delhi, Mar 01: BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who is facing flak for allegedly making provocative statements before communal riots broke out in northeast Delhi, and families of some of the victims of the violence participated in a "march against jihadi terrorism" taken out in Connaught Place on Saturday during which some people raised slogans of 'shoot the traitors'.

Mishra did not join the sloganeering or address the gathering during the 'peace march' organised by NGO Delhi Peace Forum from Jantar Mantar to Parliament Street police station.

At Jantar Mantar, slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' were raised as hundreds of people gathered holding the tricolour. Some of the victims and families of those who lost their lives in the violence in northeast Delhi narrated their ordeal.

When the march passed through Connaught Place, slogans of 'shoot the traitors' were raised.
The organisers paid tributes to Head Constable Ratan Lal and IB staffer Ankit Sharma, who were killed during the violence that has claimed 42 lives till now.

Suresh Kumar said his brother Dinesh Kumar Khatik was shot when he had gone to see whether shops were open on February 25.

"He was shot near Shiv Vihar puliya where petrol bombs were also used. I found him at GTB Hospital where he was on ventilator support. The next day he succumbed to injuries. He is survived by two children, a one-year-old and a seven-year-old," he said.

Alok Tiwari was shot in the head while he was returning home on Tuesday from the Karawal Nagar factory where he worked, his brother-in-law Sumit said.

"His fault was that he had just stopped to see whether he could buy fruits for children. My sister got to know that he had been attacked and with the help of neighbours he was taken to hospital where he succumbed to injuries the next day.

"He leaves behind a four-year-old son and a nine-year-old daughter. The children keep asking about their father but we do not know how to face them," he said.

Other speakers at the event alleged that the communal violence was "well-planned" and was aimed to "target the Hindus".

Lt General Kohli, one of the speakers, said, "This is being done to discredit police and down their morale. We have made police punching bags. We have to be alert citizens and expose those amid us who are responsible for such attacks."

BJP leader Mishra did not address the gathering though he earlier posted a tweet asking the people to join the protest at Jantar Mantar.

He also posted videos of the march and said: "No matter how much falsehood you spread, the people know the truth".

Facing allegations of making provocative speeches, Mishra has maintained that he did nothing wrong and had only demanded that the roads be cleared of anti-CAA protesters.

Lt Gen Vijay Chaturvedi also termed the violence as a "well-planned" conspiracy and said those who were involved were well-trained and equipped to use molotov cocktails.

"This was specially carried out during US President Donald Trump's visit," he said.

Earlier in the day, pro-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) sloganeering and incendiary chants of "shoot the traitors" were made inside a train on Delhi Metro's Blue Line and also at the Rajiv Chowk metro station here on Saturday by a group of young men.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), responsible for the security of the Delhi Metro, said it had detained six people and handed them over to the Delhi Police.