Delhi riots: Police tells court Zargar allegedly gave inflammatory speeches to incite riots

The Delhi police told a court on Saturday that Jamia Coordination Committee member Safoora Zargar, booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, allegedly gave inflammatory speeches to instigate a mob that led to the communal violence in northeast Delhi during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in February.

The submissions were made before Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana during the hearing of Zargar's bail plea through video conferencing. The court put up the matter for further hearing on June 4. The police claimed that Zargar, a member of Jamia Coordination Committee, had allegedly blocked a road near Jaffrabad metro station during the anti-CAA protests and instigated people that led to the riots in the area. They further claimed that she was allegedly part of the “premediated conspiracy” to incite communal riots in northeast Delhi in February.

In the bail plea, Zargar has claimed that she has been falsely implicated in the case and had no role in the alleged criminal conspiracy in the case. Zargar, an MPhil student of Jamia Millia Islamia University, is pregnant and currently lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody in the case.

Jamia Coordination Committee member Meeran Haider, Jamia students Asif Iqbal Tanha, Gulfisha Khatoon, Jamia Alumni Association President Shifa-Ur-Rehman, JNU student Natasha Narwal, activist Khalid Saifi, former Congress municipal councilor Ishrat Jahan, suspended AAP councilor Tahir Hussain and Umar Khalid have also been booked under UAPA in the case. Khalid has not been arrested yet. The accused have also been charged under sedition, attempt to murder, murder, criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth etc.

According to the FIR, the communal riots from February 23-26 was a “pre-meditated conspiracy” and hatched by Khalid and his associates. All the associates were linked to two different groups, FIR said. It further claimed that as per the preplanned conspiracy, Khalid had given provoking speeches at various places and appealed to the Muslim minority community gathering to block roads and other public places during the visit of President of US Donald Trump so that the propaganda may be flashed at an international platform that Muslim minority community in India was being tortured.

In order to achieve these objectives, on February 23, riots occurred in different areas of Delhi and in furtherance of the nefarious designs, on February 23, 24, the two groups started riots in different parts of north east and Shahdara districts of Delhi which continued till February 26, the FIR alleged. Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.

(representative image from PTI)