Anatomy of Delhi riots: Professionals, arsonists, hit-men led rampage

Much like the many religious riots in the country in the past, most of the perpetrators of the brutal violence in the riots will remain faceless. Therefore, a lot of what went into the worst riots in the national capital in decades will remain steeped in mystery. Senior Journalist Sanjib Kr Baruah explains the anatomy of the Delhi riots.

New Delhi: It is becoming obvious that a lot of careful planning went into the recent Delhi riots both among Hindus and Muslims. And, leading from the front were professional rioters, arsonists and hit-men brought in from outside the affected localities.

The clearest indication of the engagement of professional and hit-men are testimonies to the media by affected people who reveal that the marauding crowds were led by people who were not locals. There were many strangers who the people of the affected neighbourhoods did not recognize, be it in Jaffrabad, Gokulpuri, or Bhajanpura and other areas of northeast Delhi.

A notable fact was the free use of firearms and Molotov cocktails. Only individuals with criminal backgrounds would have access to such deadly implements.

“An in-depth probe will reveal to what extent such professional elements were involved. But there have been reports circulating in the past two weeks or so about such elements were being organized to create unrest and disturbance. My question is, if so, why we couldn’t nip it in the bud?” asks an indignant Prakash Singh, former DGP Uttar Pradesh and a foremost advocate of police reforms.

But much like the many religious riots in the country in the past, most of the perpetrators of the brutal violence in the riots will remain faceless. Therefore, a lot of what went into the worst riots in the national capital in decades will remain steeped in mystery.

With the death toll touching 38 and hundreds injured, some critically, the sudden riots in Delhi are fitting more and more into the classical mould.

“But there is no doubt that a fertile ground for a big riot was shaping up. Motor-mouth political leaders, apprehensions about certain government policies like CAA, had worked up both Hindus and Muslims. These fears were exploited to the hilt leading to the communal carnage,” the former BSF chief added.

Data about residents was being collected in a meticulous manner and distributed. After all, there is nothing like a spontaneous riot. Riots are always engineered and orchestrated. But before they actually take place, there is a warming-up period, before communal passions are whipped into a frenzy.

Significantly, the riot-affected communities largely belong to the lower socio-economic strata.

Yet, heartwarming tales are abounding of immediate neighbours sheltering and protecting each other irrespective of faith at considerable personal risk and safety.

But the new development in this was the use of social media in an unprecedented way—to spot differences, to point them out, work on the differences, to spark the hatred before whipping it up.

There were obvious lapses on part of the police and intelligence. Besides inadequate numbers of policemen, the security apparatus is evidently not geared up to deal with such situations, neither in terms of psychology nor in terms of latest crowd-control and rioting crowds.

There were other deep-seated factors too. Delhi is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world with migrants being the chief cause even as civic infrastructure is creaking at the joints.

Of the about 3 crores estimated population in the capital city now, about 80 per cent are Hindus while 13 per cent are Muslims. According to a UN report, Delhi could be the world's most populated urban centre by 2028. This means an ever-increasing density of population with increasingly scarce civic amenities. That is a sure recipe for disaster.