Home Minister Amit Shah, Image credit: PTI
New Delhi: Union home minister Amist Shah is named as accountable in a fact-finding report released by the Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPM) on Wednesday about the communal violence in north east Delhi in February this year.
The report titled "Communal Violence in North East Delhi, February 2020" says that the role of the home ministry was in substantial measure responsible for the escalation of the violence.
The report also pointed out how much problematic it was to describe the violence as 'riots' as, the fact-finding team could conclude that, the offensive was plausibly unilateral, "from the Hindutva mobs while the other side was desperately trying to save themselves from such attacks."
The report also cited evidences including video records which purportedly shows the police siding with the Hindutva mobs.
"On March 11, 2020, Mr Shah informed Parliament that he had been in constant touch with top police officials in Delhi, monitoring the situation. The question is, why was curfew not imposed from February 24, when violence escalated? Why was the army not deployed? Even the additional deployment of Delhi police and Rapid Action Force personnel was not only grossly inadequate, but also extremely delayed," the report remarked.
The party's relief and rehabilitation solidarity committee interviewed 400 people and recorded their response.
The report has challenged the general narrative disseminated by the state machineries and has flagged several identical FIRs and confessions cited by the police as well as complaints of torture.
The report questioned the veracity of the home minister's submissions, in the Lok Sabha on March 11, about the violence before any probe was done.
In the said speech, Amit Shah had praised Delhi Police who, he claimed, could stop violence within 36 hours of its eruption. The report cites evidences of attacks even on February 28, five days after the killings began.
The report also found the Delhi's Aam Admi Party government as nonchalant while accusing it of delays and partial compensation for the survivors of the violence.