Jahangirpuri violence: A media house's sting operation reveals the truth

In a sting operation conducted by India Today, where the media house’s reporters talked to eyewitnesses with hidden cameras, a participant in Saturday’s Shobha Yatra march allegedly confessed to provoking the riots in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri.

Karan, who marched in the Hanuman Jayanti procession, admitted that the Shobha Yatra stopped outside the Jahangirpuri mosque compound, raised slogans of Jai Shri Ram and even admitted to pelting stones.

India Today quoted Karan as saying, “We stopped outside the mosque. There shouldn’t be any objection to saying Jai Shri Ram there. Why hurl stones?”

Karan also told the team of journalists of the media house that after the other side allegedly started stone pelting, the marchers, who “are not Gandhi followers”, responded in the same way. He said, “Massive stone-pelting occurred from both sides. People ran after stone-pelting started. Petrol was sprayed and arson happened. It was all pre-planned. ”However, added Karan, “They also served us water before we left.”

On the other hand, Raja, a Jahangirpuri resident, told India Today that while this procession passes through the area every year with police presence, this year, things were different as people tried creating communal tensions beforehand. The marchers even carried swords and weapons during the procession.

Raja was quoted as saying, “We hugged each other, shook hands, and gave an honourable passage (to the Yatra). There was no problem at all. Some people gathered and said they would play DJs (outside the mosque) and tried to put up a flag in front of the mosque. They tried to unfurl the saffron flag.”

Raja also said that it was the Yatra participants who started stone-pelting after they were stopped from unfurling the saffron flag at the mosque. He added, “Then fistfights started. What will you do if you are manhandled? People from our side also gathered. There was chaos and then police arrived.”