Home Minister Amit Shah must resign for failing to prevent Delhi bloodshed     

If a government, with all the force and resources at its disposal, really wants, there won’t be a riot. And tragically as this edition goes to print, parts of North East Delhi are still burning after 72 hours. As many as 25 lives have been lost and the toll is expected to mount. Around 200 with serious injuries have been admitted in hospitals. As many as 30 per cent of those hurt have gunshot wounds.

Mosques, shops, houses have been burnt and property and businesses worth crores destroyed. Spine-chilling videos of mobs carrying pistols, swords, iron bars, and pelting stones while cops stand and watch them rampaging through the city’s streets, chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and ‘Shoot the traitors’ all the way, have flooded the social media space. There are news reports which mention policemen taking part in stone pelting and aiding and abetting the murderous mob.

All these point towards a carefully planned and targeted attack on the city’s Muslims who have been peacefully protesting against an unconstitutional Citizenship Amendment Act for many months. The conspiracy can be gauged from when in the party’s campaign for the Delhi Assembly polls, BJP leaders started delivering hate speeches, creating an atmosphere of fear and hatred in an attempt to polarise the Delhi election. Had the Delhi Police taken action against Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma, like the Delhi High Court has now asked them to do, this bloodbath could have been avoided.

The Delhi Police’s actions have been under scrutiny for quite some time now. First in Jamia Millia Islamia, it mercilessly beat up students, used live ammunition and vandalised the library and the campus. Then in JNU, it stood and watched as masked goons wielding sticks, rods and sledgehammers went on a terror spree, targeting students and teachers alike. In case of the North East Delhi riots too, Delhi Police have done little to instil confidence in people.

Now, who controls Delhi Police? It is Union Home Minister Amit Shah. If Shah has a modicum of self-respect and political morality in himself, he must go. Already several Opposition leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi have asked for his resignation. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s and the Delhi Police’s statements that there is nothing to worry about the law and order situation in Delhi ring hollow as the city is burning. Some analysts have also pointed towards the lack of training and expertise in Delhi Police’s rank and file about tackling mob violence.

If that is the condition of the capital’s police force, supposed to be a model force for the nation, it points towards severe lack of professionalism in the Indian police system. That system needs to be replaced entirely if a similar situation has to be averted. But first and foremost, those BJP leaders who instigated people to turn violent against anti-CAA/NRC protesters must be arrested and their role examined in a court of law. And yes, Amit Shah must resign, not just for the sake of moral responsibility but also for his incompetence.