As Macbeth said, “Present fears are less than horrible imaginings.” And this was perhaps proven true during the ides of December 2019, when Islamists and the Left came together to burn the country. With every passing day of violence, lies and propaganda, the fear that this saga would have unimaginably horrible ends were amplified, and justifiably so. It was on the 11th of December that the Citizenship Amendment Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha after being passed in the Lok Sabha just a few days earlier. It was on the 11th of December 2019 that calls to Jihad started emanating, threatening to challenge the law and order of the country. It was soon after, that violence erupted, fuelled by Islamist religious fanaticism and the undeniable urge of political parties to sacrifice the country at the altar of power, culminating into the Delhi anti-Hindu riots.
What started on the 11th of December culminated in the Delhi anti-Hindu Riots 2020 on 24th and 25th of February. While ever cluster of violence since December 2019 right up to February was treated as a stand-alone, isolated case by the Left media and the Islamists who were participating in the violence, the truth was far from it. Almost every cluster of violence seemed to have been carefully planned and executed with the active role of the media, in justifying not only the violence but also shifting blame from the Islamists to the government and Hindus at large.
The violence began on the 15th of December when Muslim mobs rampaged through the national capital. Amanatullah Khan, a prominent MLA of the Aam Aadmi Party, and Delhi’s Sunni Waqf Board chief was spotted leading the riots in Jamia Nagar. Chants of ‘Hinduon se Azadi’ were raised in the same area that very day. Buses were also set on fire during those violent protests. On the same night, the Delhi Police cracked down on the Jamia Millia Islamia University and entered the campus to flush out the miscreants. Two days later, massive riots broke out in Seelampur. Delhi turned into a war zone.
At that time, the prophetic feeling that this was just the beginning had gripped every citizen who was not completely blinded. The ‘horrible imaginings’ were not misplaced. It was evident that those who were ill-at-ease at being dethroned were prepared to burn the country to pull down a democratically elected government. It was evident that the violence would not stop. It was evident that no incident was a stand-alone incident. It was evident that every cluster of violence had been planned carefully and executed, almost masterfully. The end game was evident too – to those who wanted to see it.
Khilafat 2.0.
A vast network of Radical Islamic Organizations has spent a great deal of time and resources to manufacture a giant crisis in the backdrop of CAA and NRC. A student organization that is the ‘blood brother’ of the banned terrorist outfit SIMI has been involved in these violent protests. The link between the Islamic Youth Federation that does not believe India is sovereign and Sharjeel Imam is also being investigated by the agencies. Under such circumstances, it is mischievous and dubious to blame Hindus for Khilafat 2.0.
Let us not mince our words here. The time for beating around the bush has long since passed.
Everything that happened in Delhi points towards the fact that an attempt was made to repeat the events of the Khilafat Movement. The Radical Islamic Movement of the 20th Century which paved the way for the creation of Pakistan was marked by a massacre of Hindus that is oft forgotten: The Moplah Massacre. It is an objective fact that the Jamia anti-CAA movement was led by people who glorified the genocidal maniacs of the Moplah Massacre.
How it all started and the violence that was unleashed for 3 months straight
The cycle of carnage started when the government of India decided to ease the process of getting citizenship of India for the persecuted religious minorities of neighbouring Islamic nations. The Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 15, 2016, sought to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to provide citizenship to illegal migrants, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who are of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian extraction. After several twists and turns, the Citizenship Amendment Bill was finally passed by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the 11th of December. It was on the 13th of December that CAB turned into CAA after getting the President’s nod.
Almost on cue, on the 11th of December, Ladeeda Sakhaloon gave a call to Jihad.
On the 12th, Jamia Millia Islamia took out a protest march, the poster and call for which was distributed even before the 12th. The violence then erupted on the 13th of December. One recalls the angry protests by Jamia and AMU students, several Muslim groups, and the violence that erupted in West Bengal with trains being attacked, busses being burnt etc.
By the 14th of December, the situation had worsened and amidst chants of Allahu Akbar and Naara-e-Taqbeer, Jamia Millia Islamia students became violent, leaving 12 police personnel injured.
While violence brewed in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, Sonia Gandhi, the President of Indian National Congress held a ‘Bharat Bachao’ rally (Save India rally) in which, among other things she said that it is the responsibility of the people to get out of their homes, take to the streets and agitate against the Modi government. She also said that the Congress and the people should be ready to make any sacrifice to “protect” India and that this is an ‘aar paar ki ladai’ (the final battle) and people should be willing for any ‘Qurbani’ (sacrifice) 51. The provocative speech was later held responsible for the Delhi riots by some victims themselves. At the same time, Mamata Banerjee has announced that her party would hold protests in December against CAA and NRC.
On the 15th of December, the violence intensified. The ‘protesters’ raised slogans of ‘Hinduon se Azadi’, ‘Chheen ke lenge Azadi’ and ‘Ladh ke lenge Azadi’ as the violence spread from Jamia University to other areas like New Friends Colony. As the police tried to control the violence unleashed by Muslim students of Jamia, the propaganda truly began, blaming the police for cracking down on ‘peaceful’ students (who were pelting stones and Molotov cocktails). While this propaganda was busted by the police after they released a video of the violence ‘students’, the propaganda carried un unabated. At the time, the media, specifically Barkha Dutt even created ‘sheroes’ out of Islamists. Out of those who wanted to wage Jihad against Hindus.
By the 19th of December, the embers of the fire lit by Islamists in Delhi had engulfed several parts of the country like a few incidents in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh etc.
One recalls the horrifying visuals where one police officer during the violence in Ahmedabad who was running during the stone-pelting stumbled and fell to the ground. As soon as he fell to the ground, a Muslim mob gathered around him and started almost lynching him. From the video of the anti-CAA riots in Ahmedabad, it can be seen that a large mob consisting of Muslims started beating the police officer up. Towards the end of the video, it could be seen that then, the Muslim mob started chasing the police officials away while pelting stones at them mercilessly.
While several Congress and AAP politicians were arrested for the violence, the drama of Shaheen Bagh, spearheaded by Sharjeel Imam was already brewing. It was in the middle of December that the Shaheen Bagh protest was planned and orchestrated by Sharjeel Imam.
It would be rather impossible to truly capture how many plays were being enacted, simultaneously, and were all being treated as isolated incidents by the media. While violence erupted, the media was busy whitewashing the rampage. Simultaneously, Shaheen Bagh was being set up by Sharjeel Imam and he was busy delivering torrid speeches about Muslims taking to the streets and cutting off the northeast from the rest of the country. Involvement of elements like Harsh Mander, Yogendra Yadav, Amanatullah Khan etc came to the fore, while the media looked away.
By January, the provocative speeches had reached a crescendo. In a video that surfaced, Sharjeel Imam was seen inciting violence to gain international media attention during Donald Trump’s visit. Attacks were launched against those who attended pro-CAA rallies, PFI raised its ugly head with ED connecting the money trail to the Islamist organisation, social workers began to get attacked with Muslims thinking of them as those collecting NRC information etc.
A suspected false flag operation was also launched where the ‘shooter’ at Shaheen Bagh area was linked to AAP. The media, again, looked away and refused to dig further.
On the 1st of February, another shooting took place near the Shaheen Bagh protest site where the individual shot in the air and subsequently got arrested. The suspect was identified as one Kapil, a resident of East Delhi. He fired three shots but no injuries were reported as a result of the shooting. While he was being taken into custody, the suspect said, “Hamare desh me kisi aur ki nahi chalegi, bas Hinduon ki chalegi (Only the writ of Hindus shall run in India, no one else’s).”
In this shooting too, there were several questions raised even as Islamists and the Left jumped to say that a “Hindu Radical” opened fire near a spot where Muslims were protesting in Shaheen Bagh.
By the 4th of February, Delhi police made a shocking revelation regarding Shaheen Bagh shooter, Kapil Gujjar and his father’s link with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). According to the Crime Branch, Gujjar, the man who opened fire near the anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh on February 1 and his father became members of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP in early 2019. The Delhi Crime Branch found certain pictures on the mobile phone of Kapil Gujjar.
In these pictures, Kapil Gujjar could be seen with AAP leaders such as Atishi Marlena and Sanjay Singh. In the pictures, AAP Dy CM Manish Sisodia and AAP leaders such as Atishi and Sanjay Singh, who had even blamed Home Minister Amit Shah for the incident of the shooting was seen felicitating Kapil Gujjar and his father. Kapil Gujjar in his statement to the police accepted that both he and his father had political aspirations and in order to fulfil it, they joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2019. He further confessed to the Delhi Police that he had bought the pistol seven years back for celebratory firing during his brother’s wedding.
The media looked away, again.
While all of this was happening, children died at Shaheen Bagh because their parents preferred to sacrifice them for their own political ends. The January cold of Delhi was unforgiving.
The media looked away, again.
The circumstances in the fourth week of February provided for the manifestation of a perfect storm. US President Donald Trump was due for an official visit to India on the 24th of February. On the 22nd of February, the protesters at Shaheen Bagh set seven conditions to end their illegal occupation of the public road. It was the fourth day of the mediation talks.
The conditions were preposterous, to put in mild terms. It was demanded that all the cases against the students of Jamia Millia Islamia University be revoked. It was also demanded that all cases against ‘youngsters’ who were booked for the Shaheen Bagh protests be revoked. In addition to all of this, the protesters also demanded that cognizance be taken of the death of people in the anti-CAA ‘protests’ across India. And, of course, they also demanded that the NPR exercise not be carried out at the national capital. The nature of these demands proved that the mediation efforts were not going too well.
The same day these preposterous demands were made to end the blockade of road, a group of over 500 Muslim women gathered near the Jafrabad Metro Station and blocked road No. 66, which connects Seelampur to Maujpur and Yamuna Vihar. Certain ‘concerned’ citizens who oppose the CAA claim that the women were incited into blocking the roads by activists associated with the Far-Left women rights group Pinjra Tod. They also claimed that violence was incited by the Pinjra Tod activists.
On Sunday, BJP leader Kapil Mishra demanded the removal of Anti-CAA protestors and clearance of the road within 3 days. He emphasized that they would not listen to anyone if the Anti-CAA rioters do not shift and clear the roads within the given time. A clash also broke out between Pro-CAA and Anti- CAA groups in Maujpur near Jafrabad, leading to heavy stone-pelting and vandalism of public property.
On the day Donald Trump arrived in India for his official visit, the 24th of February, widespread anarchy and chaos erupted across the national capital. Muslim mobs went on a rampage again in Delhi and a head constable of the Delhi Police lost his life. A petrol pump was set on fire at Bhajanpura in East Delhi and many vehicles were burnt. Another DCP has been injured during clashes between two groups in Delhi’s Gokulpuri.
In the midst of all this, the photograph of a certain gun-wielding rioter wearing a maroon/red t-shirt had gone viral on social media. Some people claimed that the gunman who opened fire at police during the Delhi riots is from the ‘rightwing’ while others have claimed that the said person is a Muslim rioter. Later, the gunman was identified as Shahrukh and was arrested.
Since then, there was chaos in Delhi. The dead body of an Intelligence Bureau constable was recovered from a drain in Chand Bagh, spearheaded by Tahir Hussain. A Hindu man was murdered in Brahmapuri amidst chants of ‘Allah Hu Akbar’ and ‘Nara e Taqbeer’. The death toll has mounted over 50 and hundreds of people have been injured. Mosques have also been said to be damaged. A great deal of property has been damaged across the national capital.
Delhi anti-Hindu riots: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it
The cycle of violence that started in the first ten days of December culminated with the Delhi anti-Hindu riots that claimed the lives of over 50 people. The media went hammer and tongs alleging that the Delhi riots were an ‘anti-Muslim pogrom‘, trying to paint the Modi government as Nazis and the Muslims as Jews. The media, in our opinion, played an active role in the loss of lives through December, right up to February. They gave a smooth path for the Islamists and Leftists to not only claim the lives of Hindus and subvert an entire nation, and then, play the victim.
In December 2020, as we approach one full year of the violence unleashed by Islamists and Leftists, Hindus of this nation, right-thinking citizens of India, need to remember the cycle of violence and the role of the media. It is indeed true that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. With the opposition parties, Islamists, Leftists and the media (whose gravy train has ended since PM Modi came to power) getting far more desperate as the opposition loses electoral steam even further, the danger of the cycle of violence repeating itself is a real and possible danger. It is time we remember, understand and ensure that the nation is never held to ransom again.
