Amit Shah Chairs Meeting With Kejriwal to Review Situation in North East Delhi

After the meeting, the Delhi CM said that the home minister had assured everyone that there would be no shortage of police personnel on the ground.

New Delhi: After seven people, including a Delhi police head constable, were killed and hundreds injured in the violence that has rocked parts of North East Delhi over the past two days, Union home minister Amit Shah, on Tuesday, met leaders of all parties, including Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, to discuss the situation.

Apart from the Aam Aadmi Party national convener, the meeting was also attended by Delhi BJP president and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari and Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra. Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Delhi police commissioner Amulya Patnaik and chief secretary Anil Dev were among others who attended the high-level meeting.

The police has also imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC in the entire North East Delhi till March 24.

Shah assured adequate deployment of police: Kejriwal

Speaking after the meeting, Kejriwal said that it was decided in the meeting that all political parties and leaders would work together to restore normalcy. He said the home minister had assured everyone that there would be no shortage of personnel on the ground.

Kejriwal said that it was being felt that there was a dearth of personnel to deal with the situation but the Centre had provided assurances that there would be sufficient deployment of personnel to deal with the situation. He also noted that several police officials had been injured of whom nine were admitted to Max Hospital and 16 to the GTB Hospital.

Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra said while 42 companies of police and paramilitary forces had already been deployed, it was stressed, in the meeting, that it was the responsibility of all the political parties to ensure peace.

Also Read: An Eyewitness Account of the ‘War Zone’ in North East Delhi

Shah’s meeting came immediately after Arvind Kejriwal chaired an all-party meet and called for sealing the city’s borders in areas that had witnessed violence to prevent “outsiders” from entering the national capital.

“They told me that outsiders are coming and trying to make the situation worse. The border of Delhi needs to be sealed for some time,” the AAP leader said.

Kejriwal also alleged that the police were not taking any action because they “were not getting orders”.

“The police personnel could not do anything because they were not getting orders from their seniors. I will raise this with (Home Minister) Amit Shah ji. They can’t decide whether there should be tear-gassing or lathi-charging without orders from above,” Kejriwal told reporters, according to NDTV.

“Everyone who has been affected or the seven people who died were also from among us, were one of us,” Kejriwal said at the all-party meet. “Several houses were set ablaze and shops were damaged. It is very unfortunate. Today some people are being affected tomorrow others will be. Please shun violence.”

In a tweet, the chief minister had also urged everyone to shun violence.

Violence continues

With the violence in North East Delhi showing no signs of abating, additional companies of the police and paramilitary forces have already been sent into the affected areas. Shah had also convened a meeting with senior police and administration officials following his return from Gujarat late at night on Monday. The meeting, which began at 11 pm, lasted for over two hours.

It has been learnt that the police personnel explained the situation in detail and sought clear directions in dealing with the situation.

Vehicles set ablaze as protestors throw brick-bats during clashes between a group of anti-CAA protestors and supporters of the new citizenship act, at Jaffrabad in north-east Delhi. Photo: PTI

The Delhi police has come under extensive criticism for its handling of the law and order situation and for not anticipating that violence, which had originated in some parts of the city on Sunday, would quickly escalate to other areas in the district over the next two days.

Kapil Mishra charged with instigating crowds

A lot of blame for the violence, which began at Jaffrabad, where an anti-CAA protest was taking place, has been placed upon BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who, on Sunday had urged people to come out in large numbers and remove the road blockades erected by anti-CAA protesters. Subsequently, incidents of stone-pelting and violence were reported from several areas.

While Mishra later stated that he would give a three-day ultimatum to the Delhi police to clear all the roadblocks impacting the lives of lakhs of residents in the area, and defer his protest until after US President Donald Trump left Delhi, the violence did not stop. Instead incidents of arson were reported from many other areas.

Also read: BJP’s Kapil Mishra Has Issued an ‘Ultimatum’ to the Delhi Police. But Who Is He?

In a statement, the East Delhi BJP MP Gautam Gambir also criticised statements which led to violence. He said that whoever had made irresponsible statements should be booked. Gambhir also questioned the manner in which the police was targeted. He urged that all those who incited people be stopped. “When the police personnel are not safe then who would guarantee the safety of ordinary citizens,” he asked.

The Delhi police has also convened meetings of “aman” or peace to urge people to shun violence. It has also issued tweets appealing for peace.

But the impact of the move has been limited.

The Delhi police also stated that it was making “every effort to restore normalcy” and said that “Section 144 has been imposed in the affected areas of North East district and strict action will be taken against miscreants and anti-social elements.”

Furthermore, the police urged people to not believe any rumours and appealed to the media to not circulate any “disturbing pictures” which may further aggravate the situation.

On Tuesday, AAP MLAs and Delhi ministers Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain also met a top police officer, after waiting for over two hours outside Lt Governor Anil Baijal’s residence, who assured them that sufficient police personnel will be deployed in the violence-hit North East Delhi areas.

AAP legislators Dilip Pandey, Sanjeev Jha and Akhilesh Pati Tripathi had camped outside the LG House seeking an appointment with Baijal for the deployment of sufficient police force in the areas hit by violence over the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Special Commissioner of Police Rajesh Khurana met the AAP MLAs as the representative of the LG and assured them that adequate security will be deployed in the vulnerable areas, Rai, who is the Delhi Environment Minister, said on Twitter.

(With inputs from PTI)