Judicial commission headed by retired SC judge must probe Delhi riots: People's tribunal

Two years after the Delhi pogrom in 2020, a people’s tribunal has underscored what everyone knew all along: in spite of adequate intelligence and warning indicators of heightened tensions and threats, the Delhi Police failed to take adequate measures to prevent the spreading of the riots.

Once the violence broke out, Delhi Police allowed the riots to continue for a longer period though acts of omission and commission.

The jury maintained that there were widespread instances of the police harassing victims and innocent citizens by various means including large-scale arrests, refusing to arrest and take action against ‘powerful’ people implicated in inciting violence, corruption and attempts at extortion.

The findings of the jury formed by the people’s tribunal were released on February 28. The jury comprised of former Indian ambassador Deb Mukharji, former Home Secretary Gopal Pillai, historian Mridula Mukherjee, senior journalist and researcher Pamela Philipose, and former member of Planning Commission of India and writer Syeda Hameed.

Speaking at the release of the report, Mukherjee underlined that the Delhi Police allowed the rioters to continue with impunity and they followed the policy of omission by commission. This injustice was added to by the AAP-led Delhi government which miserably failed to provide adequate relief to victims of the violence. It has also not been able to prevent harassment and fair investigation of riot-related cases over the last two years.

“People who were holding sticks for self-defence were picked up and called rioters. The best of us are rotting in jails,” said Philipose.

The government has done “precious little to bridge the communal divide between the two communities”, added Mukherjee. The breakdown of friendships across religions that once existed was deeply regretted.

Talking about her Hindu classmates at the tribunal, a teenager noted, “It’s not the same anymore, we don’t visit each other’s homes anymore.”

She pointed out that although a lot of the rioters came from outside her neighbourhood, the fact that Muslim homes were individually torched or looted also indicated that some people from within the neighbourhood did play a role in identifying them. “Our homes bore no symbols or name plates, so how did the rioters know which families to attack?” she asked.

It was noted that the riots broke out when many students were facing their board examinations. With no learning assistance, concessions or guidance provided by the state at that point, a lot of students just dropped out of the schooling system. This happened not only because of all-pervading fear but also because their books and school certificates were burnt by the mobs.

A young 23-year-old man from Khajuri Khas spoke about the harassment he has faced over the past two years. Today, he has been forced to give up on his education and ply an e-rickshaw because he is the sole bread-earner of the family.

Among the testimonies was one from an 18-year-old who was shot at during the violence on February 25, 2020, in Kardampuri when he unwittingly got caught up in a crowd when he had gone to visit the family shop with his father.

His distraught father tried to rush him to hospital. It was an extended ordeal for the father since no ambulances were allowed inside localities hit by the violence.

Eventually, an autorickshaw driver took the man and his profusely bleeding son to Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital.

The boy faces lower-body disability for a long time largely because the bullet was left inside his body. In the immediate aftermath he suffered excruciating pain and his lower body was partially paralysed.

The next few weeks and months saw repeated hospital visits until finally the bullet was surgically removed from his body after 2 months. The multiple hospital visits, tests, scans, expensive medication and surgeries would have cost at least Rs 6-8 lakh if some doctors and medical social workers had not pitched in and taken care of the costs. The boy received a paltry compensation of Rs 2 lakh from the state. Today, he can barely walk.

The compensation provided has been discriminatory. While a dead policeman’s kin got more than Rs 1 crore, the death of an ordinary victim of the violence was given only Rs 10 lakh.

Furthermore, a child’s death was allocated merely Rs 5 lakhs according to the scheme. These blatant and arbitrary discrepancies have been pointed out repeatedly and need to be questioned further.

The findings show that unlike in other riots that India has witnessed, the Northeast Delhi violence saw an extremely high number of those injured by bullets. Some were shot in the eye, others in the back, leaving several survivors with grave disabilities today.

The tribunal noted that most legal support provided to survivors of the violence was by young and community-based lawyers. The state has done little to nothing to provide free legal aid to them.

The tribunal wanted a judicial commission of enquiry headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court to be set up immediately to inquire into the riots. The impunity enjoyed by the state and non-state actors can only be challenged through setting up of such a commission of enquiry with members who have stature and credibility among the affected communities, they pointed out.

Criticising mainstream media, author Arundhati Roy said they don’t bother to report the truth. “They are not pretending anymore. Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi and several wonderful young minds are in jail for reason,” she added.