Summary:
New Delhi, Apr 19 (PTI) The violence that broke out in Delhi"s Jahangirpuri on April 16 is part of some Sangh affiliates" agenda to use religious occasions to create communal disharmony, the Left parties said in a fact-finding report released on Tuesday.
Based on its interaction with the people of the affected area in northwest Delhi, the team said Hindus and Muslims have been living there "together for decades" and claimed that those who participated in the violence on Saturday were outsiders.The report noted that the violence broke out when a Hanuman Jayanti procession led by Bajrang Dal activists, who were armed with pistols and swords, reached in front of a mosque."Why wasn"t it stopped then? Why were they allowed to raise slogans outside the mosque at a time when the Roza was completed and a crowd of Muslims was expected?" the report asked, holding the Delhi Police responsible for the clashes between two communities.The fact-finding team comprised CPI(M), CPI, CPIML and Forward Bloc leaders."They said that a group of 150-200 men were roaming the streets in a procession with DJ and loud noise and carrying weapons since the afternoon.
The locals said that they saw people in the procession brandishing pistols and swords.
This can be verified through television footage as well."They also said that people were shouting forceful and attacking slogans.
The team was told that this procession was not organised by locals, but by the youth wing of the Bajrang Dal.
The people said that they were outsiders," the report stated.It claimed that when the violence broke out, the procession was on its third round of the locality."If the local Muslims had conspired to attack the procession as has been alleged by BJP leaders, the attack would have happened earlier," the report said.Holding the Delhi Police responsible for the violence, it asked why an armed procession was allowed to gather in front of a mosque."They said locals gathered in large numbers amidst fears that the procession will enter the mosque." the report said.It noted that while vehicles were burnt, female residents of the area who opposed raids at their houses were "manhandled" by police personnel.The report stated that the locals said the stone pelting began from both ends.