Siasat.com
February 28, 2020
Delhi: On the night between February 22 and February 23, around 500 to 1000 women protestors started a sit in protest in the stretch of the Seelampur–Jaffrrabad road.
Then one tweet by Delhi BJP MLA Kapil Mishra served as an ultimatum to Delhi police. It said he would not allow the stretch to be “destroyed as the Shaheen Bagh environment.”
The tweet read, “Dilli police ko 3 din ka ultimatum. Jaffarbad aur Chand Bagh ki sadkein khaali karwaayiein. Is ke baad humein mat samjhaayeiga. Hum apki bhi nahi suneinge. Sirf 3 din!,” he clearly warned the police.
Within a few hours, the line between the police and right-wing mobs dissipated. The two descended upon these protest sights on the midnight of February 23. Saffron flags were hoisted upon the homes of Seelampur, Jaffrabad, Maujpur and Babarpur to differentiate Hindu homes from Muslim ones.
At 1 am on February 24, the police resorted to lathi charge with stones being pelted. At 4:30 pm, people from various sites joined the protest by the Jaffarabad Metro Station. This was followed by the imposition of Section 144 in most Northeast Delhi Districts.
Many videos did the rounds on social media of Chand Bagh of police officers participating in the riots and turning a blind eye to this violence against the minority community.
Apart from five deaths, at least 50 people suffered injuries that night.
On the 25th, houses were also being set ablaze near the Maujpur Metro station during the second day of this violence. The Quint’s Shadab Moizee mentioned that media wasn’t allowed to cover the protest as people remained confined to their homes.
Plus, while such violence continued unabated, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to social media to express joy about President Donald Trump’s wife Melania visiting one of Delhi’s schools. That appeared to be more important for him than people losing lives and property destroyed.
Mustafabad too experienced the wrath of right-wing mobs as an Ambulance driver seeking to enter Al-Hind Hospital was beaten up.
Plus, BJP MLA Sanjay Verma leading an East Delhi march with him and his supporters chanting “Goli maaro saalo ko” slogans through the Mangal Bazar in Laxmi Nagar.
However, more violence continued to unfold in the Mustafabad area as the Aam Admi Party MLA Haji Mohammed Yunus there tweeting about the worsening conditions to the Prime Minister, Lieutenant Governor, Home Minister and Delhi Police’s twitter handles for army assistance.
Besides medical personnel, legal NGOs such as the Indian Civil Liberties Union and the Human Rights Law Network lawyers were assaulted by law enforcement officials outside the Jagatpuri Police Station.
Though these engineered riots did not deter the resolve of protestors of Shaheen Bagh. Although violence did also break out at the Brijpuri, Durgapuri Chowk and Maujpur on early morning of February 27.
The death toll has now mounted to 39 since these updates.