Leading a delegation of party leaders to the riot-hit northeast Delhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said politics of division harms 'Bharat Mata' and India's reputation in the world has taken a hit due to the violence in the national capital.
Two separate delegations of Congress leaders visited different areas in northeast Delhi to take stock of the situation and meet victims of the violence.
The delegation led by Gandhi included K C Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, K Suresh, Mukul Wasnik, Kumari Selja, Gaurav Gogoi and Randeep Surjewala.
The delegation visited a private school in the Brijpuri area that was vandalised and burnt during the riots.
Arun Modern Public Senior Secondary School, which is over 32 years old, suffered massive damage and the Congress delegation went around the gutted classrooms and surveyed the burnt busses.
Speaking with reporters, Gandhi said, "This (school) is India's future. Hate and violence has burnt it down. Nobody has benefited from this. Violence and hate are enemies of development."
"India is being divided, burnt. This will not benefit the people and Bharat Mata," he said.
People have to unite with love and work for the country as only by bringing India together can the nation move forward, the former Congress president said.
"When there is violence in India, its capital, then India's reputation in the world takes a hit," he told reporters.
India's strength -- brotherhood, unity and love -- has been burnt here, he said referring to the gutted school.
"With this kind of politics, not only just this school is harmed, Hindustan and Bharat Mata are harmed. Our reputation in the world which is very important for our future that has been burnt here," he said.
Gandhi along with other leaders also visited a mosque near the school that was affected in the violence.
Later, in a tweet, Gandhi said, "Sad to see what hatred does. Love is strength. Hate is weakness. India cannot act with hatred. It's not our way."
Sources said Gandhi wanted to visit other riot-affected areas as well, but Delhi Police advised him not to go beyond the Brijpuri Nullah.
When Gandhi got inside the vehicle to return, a woman among the crowd that had gathered outside the school started shouting and blamed the Congress for the violence.
The other delegation, comprising mostly MPs, left in a bus from the Kerala House here and included Hibi Eden, Gurjeet Singh Aujla and Abdul Khaleque.
Their first stop was Chand Bagh where they met shopkeepers and asked them about the losses they suffered.
The delegation also visited Bhajanpur, Karawal Nagar road, Khajuri khas, and met riot victims.
"People told us that people from outside had come to cause disturbance and those living in the area had been living together for years and wanted to live in unity in future as well," Khaleque said.
The Congress has demanded that the issue of communal riots in Delhi be debated in Parliament and proceedings of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been disrupted over the issue.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi last week had deputed a five-member team to visit the riot-affected areas of Delhi and submit a report to her after assessing the situation there.
The communal violence in northeast Delhi, which was sparked by protests over the amended Citizenship Act, and has left 42 dead and over 200 injured.
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