'On Monday, one police constable and a civilian were reported killed as reports of arson, gunfire and stone pelting violence came in from the North East Delhi area. Videos also showed the Delhi police standing by as mobs pelted stones. By the time The Wire‘s reporters caught up with what had happened, eyewitnesses on the ground had begun to refer to the areas where violence had occurred as ‘the war zone’...'
'This story is all about how things have been spiralling out of control in northeast Delhi and how misguided youths have decided to take the law in their hands by unleashing violence based on religious identity. My horrifying experience began when I reached Maujpur Metro Station around 12.15pm. I was taken by surprise when a Hindu Sena member suddenly approached me offering to put tilak on my forehead saying it would make my work “easier”. He could see me with cameras, which identified me as a photojournalist. However, he was insistent. “You are also a Hindu, bhaiya.
'Since Monday, North East Delhi has been on the boil. Hindutva mobs have unleashed large-scale violence against anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protestors, and there has also been violence and stone-pelting from the other side. Shots have also been fired in some parts of the district. Several shops and homes have been vandalised and set on fire, and vehicles have been torched. The violence has led to the death of at least seven persons and more than 100 have been injured. The situation remains volatile, with armed mobs patrolling the streets and continuing to torch homes and shops.
'At the Maujpur-Babarpur chowk, Hindutva supporters gathered around BJP leader Jai Bhagwan Goyal, who had led a rally of a 100-odd people minutes before he broke into a rant against Muslims. “Agar yahan rahna hai, toh khada hona hoga (‘If you want to stay here, then you will have to rise up’)” the 60-year-old saffron clad leader declared, even as his voice faded amidst chants of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Har Har Mahadev.” “Chaaron taraf se Muslims se gheere huye hai.
'A mob set two roadside cabins and motorcycles on fire in Khambhat town of Gujarat’s Anand district on Tuesday as communal clashes entered the third day, PTI reported. Five persons have been detained for the arson incident, Inspector General of Ahmedabad Range IK Jadeja said. Some Hindutva outfits had organised a shutdown in the town on Tuesday to demand action against those who indulged in violence on the previous two days, Jadeja said. Several persons gathered at Gavara Chowk and staged protests, he added.
'As violence over the amended citizenship law continued uninterrupted for the third straight day in northeast Delhi, the Jaffrabad road blocked by protesters, most of them women, since Saturday night, has been cleared by Delhi Police, and shoot-at-sight order issued in some affected areas on Tuesday... The death toll in the violence climbed to thirteen and nearly 150 injured were admitted to the GTB hospital. Affected areas include Maujpur, Jaffrabad, Bhajanpura, Yamuna Vihar, Chand Bagh and Gokalpuri in Northeast Delhi...'
Arvind Gunasekar: "...we got information about a group of men trying to destroy a building... so we tried going towards that particular location. When we reached that particular location we saw a group of men - a mob actually - trying to destroy a religious site right next to the flyover. So when we started moving towards them, we saw two policemen coming along with some ten to fifteen young men holding sticks - they were walking towards that religious site, so we followed them.
'A mosque in Ashok Nagar was set on fire late on Tuesday afternoon. A mob shouting “Jai Shri Ram” and “Hinduon ka Hindustan” paraded around the burning mosque, and a Hanuman flag was placed on the minaret of the masjid. In video footage that has since emerged on Twitter, one of the mob is seen climbing up the minaret with an Indian flag in his hand. He attempts to pull down a section of the minaret but does not apparently succeed...'
'A group of at least 200 people were gathered around a Muslim cemetery armed with hammers, sickles and axes. This was just 100 metres from the Gokulpuri police station in Northeast Delhi. On one call, all of them raised their tools and struck the building’s boundary wall. “Jai Shri Ram,” they said, and struck again. There was not a single policeman in the vicinity to stop them. A part of the mob then ran across the road and set two shops that had ‘Khan’ written on them on fire. And still no policemen, who were clearly outnumbered, tried to stop them...'
'...Mubarak Hussain’s blood-smeared body was lying on the streets of Babarpur’s Vijay Park colony for at least three hours after he was shot dead in the violence. Hussain, 28, was shot at on his chest at 1.40 pm Tuesday and he died on the spot, said eyewitnesses. “We made at least 100 calls to the police, but no one has come yet with even an ambulance,” Mubarak’s 18-year-old brother Sadakat told ThePrint. Until 3.30 pm Tuesday, when ThePrint visited the spot, no police officer or ambulance had arrived to take Hussain’s body to the hospital.
