Parties accuse each other of stoking violence

Days of clashes between Hindus and Muslims, round-the-clock curfew, and dozens of arrests have left the social fabric of east Delhi’s Trilokpuri area in tatters. Rumour-mongering is rampant, including on social media, and locals say how politicians of all hues have abdicated their responsibility to bridge the divide between the two communities that started with a rumour on Diwali night.

Locals have told activists and independent fact-finding teams how representatives of three prominent political parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress – have done little to quell the cycle of rumours, distrust and violence. The rioting, which has left several injured, has taken place at a time when by-polls to three Assembly seats are slated for November 25, and possibly even a full-fledged Assembly election early next year. Delhi has been under President’s rule ever since the AAP quit the government in mid-February.

It is in this backdrop that political parties accuse each other of having engineered the riots.

The AAP has alleged the violence in Trilokpuri was “committed in a pre-planned manner to polarise the society on religious lines”. It has accused former BJP MLA Sunil Kumar Vaidya of contributing to the communal discord. “Vaidya’s close aides were involved in sending hate messages through WhatsApp, which were particularly aimed at spreading hatred against a particular community,” AAP alleged in a press statement on Monday, offering to furnish this “evidence” to the police.

The party also demanded a probe into Vaidya’s role and said it has sought reports on the situation in the area from party MLAs Manoj Kumar and Raju Dhingan. However, local community leaders, who did not want to be quoted, said local MLA Dhingan was as much a part of the problem.

The local MP, BJP’s Mahesh Giri, told Business Standard that he was doing his utmost to bring tempers down in the area. “In the past three days, I have met local elders to bring the area to a semblance of normalcy. If anything, it is the AAP which is trying to give a political colour to the trouble encouraged by anti-social elements in the area,” he said. Off the record, ground-level BJP workers suggested it was the Congress that could gain the most from the rioting. They pointed out how the BJP won all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi with a whopping 55 per cent vote share.

Until recently, the area was a Congress stronghold. Sandeep Dikshit was a two-term MP from the area until he lost in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

On Monday, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Arvinder Singh Lovely along with other leaders met the Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi to demand that those behind the conflagration be arrested. “These incidents have been taking place after the change in power at the Centre,” said Lovely. He criticised local AAP MLAs for not being present in their respective constituencies when the clashes took place. “Where were they when the locals were looking for them? The AAP is hand-in-glove with the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the BJP,” he said.

Bassi said on Monday that the situation in Trilokpuri was under control. “We are keeping a strict watch on those who are trying to spread rumours and making false PCR calls for riots. Section 144 will be imposed for the next few days and we are focusing on the situation and security arrangements will also be there for the next few days.\" The police had arrested 14 persons on Sunday for spreading rumours and fanning tension in the locality following the clashes.