NEW DELHI — Two former chairmen of Delhi Minorities Commission, Kamal Faruqi and Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan have written a joint letter to Anil Baijil, Lt. Governor Delhi, expressing concern over the fast deteriorating communal atmosphere in Delhi.
The two former chairmen of DMC said in their joint letter that “if unchecked, these hateful events may lead to a situation which devastated our city in February 2020.”
In their joint letter, the two former chairmen of DMC referred to a number of recent incidents in Delhi like holding an unauthorised demonstration at Jantar Mantar where threat of slaughter of Muslims were made; a self-styled Hindutva militant stopped a Muslim in the street and misbehaved with him and when a police officer tried to explain the law to him, the officer himself was suspended; one Pinki Chaudhari, who was involved in the demo at Jantar Mantar, has been appearing on TV channels hurling abuses at the Prophet of Islam and Muslims, yet he has not been arrested; some local people communalised the issue of a proposed Haj House in Dwarka and had earlier attacked mosque-goers in the same area; a group of zealots tried to desecrate Dargah Madad Ali Shah in Rohini’s Sector 25, performed Hindu rituals near the Dargah and threatened the Dargah caretaker Aqeel Ahmad to vacate the shrine within the next ten days…
The former chairmen of DMC said in their joint letter to the LG: “It is our sincere and earnest submission that such hate-mongering must be firmly checked lest it lead to events like Delhi riots of February 2020 which will dent our secular polity and peace, and shame us in the eyes of the world.”
Following is the full text of the letter:
12 August 2021
Shri Anil Baijil
Hon’ble Lt. Governor Delhi
6, Raj Niwas Marg,
Ludlow Castle, Civil Lines,
New Delhi – 110054
Respected Sir,
We are former chairmen of Delhi Minorities Commission. We approach you to place in front of you our deep anguish and sorrow at events which have unfurled in Delhi in the recent past. If unchecked, these hateful events may lead to a situation which devastated our city in February 2020. We bring to your notice in particular:
1. An unauthorised demonstration was held at Jantar Mantar on 8 August 2021, flouting Covid restrictions. No such events are allowed in that sensitive are without prior permission of the Parliament Street PS, and every demonstration is videographed in the presence of a large police force. Responsibility should be fixed why an unauthorised demonstration was allowed to be held in that area and why some arrests were made only days later after a general uproar which echoed worldwide and why the chief culprit was allowed to get bail in no time, while some main culprits like Pinki Chaudhri are yet to be arrested although he is frequently appearing on TV channels spewing venom.
2. A self-styled Hindutva militant stopped a Muslim person and misbehaved with him regarding the location of a mazar. SHO of Adarsh Nagar, CP Bhardwaj, tried to explain to the militant that if he has any complaint he should approach the religious committee of Delhi Government which has the power to intervene in such matters. Instead of praising and rewarding that straight and fair officer, he has been suspended on unbelievable charges, ostensibly to placate the Hindutva people who are similarly behaving in Delhi and other parts of the country in similar cases. Such treatment of a fair police officer sends a very bad message to all law-abiding officers.
3. One Pinki Chaudhari, involved in the demo at Jantar Mantar, appeared soonafter on ABP Ganga channel where he not only repeated and defended his previous line at the Jantar Mantar demo, he went further to hurl abuses at the Prophet of Islam (which may be seen at 5:55-6:15 minutes on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcswtbq5OLM). Such incendiary statements will boomerang to hurt peace and harmony in the country and defame our country abroad.
4. Some local people have communalised the issue of a proposed Haj House in Dwarka, which is a Govt of Delhi project. Earlier, similar misguided people had attacked mosque-goers in the same area.
5. A group of 60-70 zealots claiming to be from “Hindu Sangthan” tried to desecrate Dargah Madad Ali Shah in Rohini’s Sector 25 on 3 August 2021. They performed Hindu rituals near the Dargah and threatened the Dargah caretaker Aqeel Ahmad to vacate the shrine within the next ten days after which they will install a Hindu deity in the Dargah.
It is our sincere and earnest submission that such hate-mongering must be firmly checked lest it lead to events like Delhi riots of February 2020 which will dent our secular polity and peace, and shame us in the eyes of the world.
This story first appeared on clarionindia.net