Just 10km from PMO-Home Ministry, Delhi burns in riots. What does it mean?

Just 10km from PMO-Home Ministry, Delhi burns in riots. What does it mean?

Riot-hit areas of Jafrabad, Maujpur etc in northeast Delhi are at a radius of just 10km from India’s most secured area--the Raisina Hill, an area that houses Parliament, Rashtrapati Bhavan, PMO and the defence and home ministries.

Forty-two people, including a Delhi Police head constable, have died so far in the riots that broke out on Monday in Maujpur and Jafrabad areas of Delhi’s North East district. More than 200 people were wounded and property--cars, homes, shops and a petrol pump--were set on fire amid heavy stone-pelting and violence that was unleashed on the streets of India’s national capital.

In the past two-and-a-half-months since Parliament passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Delhi has seen frequent protests, many of which turned violent. On at least three occasions, firing using illegal country-made weapons took place.

The latest such firing incident occurred on Monday in Jafrabad when a man reportedly fired amid heavy stone-pelting. Earlier, on January 30, a youth opened fire in Jamia Nagar when students of Jamia Millia Islamia University were marching towards Raj Ghat to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act. One student was injured in this firing.

Both these firing incidents--in Jafrabad and Jamia Nagar--happened despite police presence in the area.

Apart from Jafrabad, Maujpur and Jamia Nagar, widespread violence was also unleashed inside the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus on January 5 when a riotous mob of masked people armed with sticks, iron rods and stones barged into students’ hostels and attacked them.

More than 30 people, including faculty members, were wounded in the attack. The Delhi Police is yet to arrest anyone in this case. Meanwhile, some video clips showed cops staying silent spectators when the armed goons walked out of JNU after creating mayhem on the campus.

The fact that violence of such scale has been repeatedly occurring in India’s national capital for over two months, is a cause of worry.

What makes this more disturbing is that all these instances of violence have occurred within a radius of just 10-12 km from India’s most secured area--the Raisina Hill. It is an area that houses the Parliament House Complex, the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Prime Minister’s Office and the defence and home ministries, among other high-profile offices.

A natural question that arises is: If this can happen within 10-12km from the Parliament House Complex and the Rashtrapati Bhavan, how does the govt plan to protect citizens elsewhere?

(Shaheen Bagh/Jamia Nagar is the farthest place that has seen violence in recent times and is located at a distance of approximately 12km from the Parliament House Complex, while Jafrabad, the epicenter of the riots, falls within a radius of 10km.)

Not very far from the Raisina Hill are the headquarters of the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy.

The Supreme Court of India, the Delhi High Court and the headquarters of the Delhi Police too are also all within a radius of 10-12km from the localities that have seen violence in Delhi in the recent past.

These riots, clashes and firings have occurred despite the fact that Delhi also houses headquarters of India’s top intelligence agencies. The fact that no pre-emptive measure was taken in Delhi by law-enforcing agencies, raises questions about the quality of their intelligence gathering ability (rather the lack of it).

Did the Intelligence Bureau and the local intelligence units alert the Delhi Police and the Union Home Ministry about the possibility of such widespread violence in Delhi which has seen hundreds of people hitting the streets? If they did provide intelligence inputs, why did the Home Ministry and the Delhi Police not act in time to avert the mayhem?

Besides intelligence, Delhi also has a sizeable deployment of paramilitary forces, including the National Security Guards in neighbouring Manesar.