'Videos surfaced on social media on Tuesday evening of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Abhay Verma making rounds of Laxmi Nagar market in his constituency with at least 150 supporters, chanting provocative slogans. Local shopkeepers in Laxmi Nagar confirmed that Verrma had visited the area. The video was tweeted by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Rajya Sabha Member Sanjay Singh. Verma also happens to be the Delhi BJP vice-president, who defeated AAP’s Nitin Tyagi in the February 8 Assembly elections by a razor-thin margin of 880 votes.
'At around noon on February 25, when Mohammed Saeed Salmani was out buying milk for his family, he received a call from his younger son. An armed mob of around 100 people had entered their lane in Gamri extension, around 1.5 km from Khajuri Khas in Delhi, and were setting shops and houses on fire. Their four-storey house, too, had been torched, and his family had sought refuge on the roof.
'...After walking for about 200 meters, I saw a huge group of men standing in a corner and listening to a pundit, dressed in saffron clothes. When I got close, I clearly heard him say, "Musalmano ko jaisey hi dekho waisey hi maaro, upar se order aa gaye hain,” after which he left in a hurry. Curious and shocked, I asked one of the men who he was. "Paas ki mandir ke pundit hain ye, aap kaun hain?" "I live here inside these lanes," I said. "Let us drop you inside," they said. After telling them that I will manage on my own, I escaped and started walking inside one of the lanes of Maujpur.
'While the national capital continues to burn in the pyre of communalism, we wouldn't know much about it if it weren't for the journalists, ground reporters who have been risking their lives to bring the horrific details on the ground to us... It is an extremely frustrating day for journalists in Delhi – we want to respond to distress calls coming from Muslim neighbourhoods, we want to document the violence, but going into these areas is risky because mobs are attacking reporters...
'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.
