As the country battles the Coronavirus Pandemic, Union Home Minister Amit Shah keeps cracking down on law-breakers and rioters. The National Capital witnessed two ugly, unprecedented incidents this year- the February Delhi riots and the Tablighi Jamaat congregation that led to the Coronavirus Pandemic taking grip of the country.
Over the past few days, several developments have taken place- a second charge sheet has been filed against Tahir Hussain whose name had figured prominently during the Delhi riots, a Tablighi Jamaat-Delhi riots link has been drawn by the police and 2,550 foreign Tablighi missionaries, who were blacklisted for their Tablighi Jamaat activities, have been banned from travelling to India.
The most shocking of the developments is, of course, the Delhi riots-Tablighi Jamaat link that has surfaced. According to the Delhi Police probe into the rioting that took place outside a Shiv Vihar school on February 24, it has been revealed that the school’s owner, identified as Faisal Farooque, had links with the Hazrat Nizamuddin Markaz, the global headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat.
According to IANS, the charge sheet filed by the police mentions, “His (Faisal’s) call detail analysis and links with prominent members of Popular Front of India, Pinjratod group, Jamia Coordination Committee, Hazrat Nizamuddin Markaz and some other fundamental Muslim clerics including Deoband also shows the depth of the conspiracy.”
It is relevant to mention here that the deadly Delhi riots had left more than 50 people dead, while the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at the Nizamuddin Markaz that was attended by 8,000 missionaries led to a major spike in the Coronavirus cases across different parts of the country.
In another major breakthrough for the Delhi Police, a second charge sheet has been filed against suspended AAP Councillor- this time for the fatal attack on IB staffer Ankit Sharma whose body had been recovered from a drain in Chand Bagh on February 26. The Post-mortem report had revealed that he was stabbed and beaten ruthlessly. The police have claimed that Tahir Hussain conspired to kill the IB staffer because he was a “familiar face in the area” and had led the mob that targeted him.
The police have also claimed that though Tahir Hussain did not kill Sharma, he “planned the murder and got it executed”. Even more shocking details have been revealed in the police report, and the police have said that Hussain’s cell location showed he was in the house adjacent to Ankit Sharma’s when he was killed and he was constantly on the phone getting updates on the plan.
The Print has quoted a senior police officer as saying, “It has been found that Tahir Hussain is the main person who had been instigating the mob, both on 24th and 25th February, in the Chand Bagh area.” The officer added, “We have enough electronic, forensic proof to establish our claims.”
The Delhi Police has made significant headways into the February riots, the biggest riots in the National Capital since the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, despite the Coronavirus Pandemic. In fact, the Union Home Ministry led by Amit Shah has been very clear in its approach that the police should continue arresting those involved in the riots.
In the month of April, it was reported that over 800 arrests were made in connection with the Northeast Delhi riots.
Apart from proceeding in the Delhi riots at a breakneck speed, the Union Home Ministry has also taken action against foreign Tablighi missionaries who were staying in India in violation of visa rules during the nationwide lockdown to check the COVID-19 outbreak. The 2,550 members of the orthodox organisation will not be allowed to enter India for the next 10 years.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has thus worked behind the curtains to ensure that law-breakers and rioters are brought to justice. The Coronavirus Pandemic has not stalled India’s fight against such elements, and Shah deserves to be credited for relentlessly pursuing them even during a Pandemic.
