Delhi police 'turned blind eye' to hate speeches: Kabil Sibal

I'm surprised that no action has been taken against hate mongers. I think this is a very serious issue... Apart from the fact that the administration is not going to do anything, the courts should sit up and take notice. This is a corona like virus which is a communal virus which is going to spread if it is not nipped in the bud, believes Kapil Sibal, senior Congress leader.

New Delhi: Terming the Delhi riots as "unfortunate", senior Congress leader and former Union minister Kapil Sibal accused the Delhi police of turning a blind eye to people who delivered hate speeches. Talking exclusively to senior journalist Amit Agnihotri, Sibal hoped that the courts should sit up and take notice of all that led to deaths of many innocent people.

Excerpts:

Q. Several state governments have passed resolutions against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. Do these resolutions have legal validity?

A.Well, the matter is pending before the Supreme Court and the court has to decide. If the court upholds the law, the matter of implementation of these resolutions arises. The resolutions only say that the government of India should do a rethink and withdraw the CAA. Those resolutions are perfectly valid.However, like any other adjudication, this issue will follow the findings of the Supreme Court.

Q. Has the CAA issue taken the Congress’ focus away from the sliding economy?

A.No, I don’t think that the anti-CAA protests have taken the focus away from a sliding economy. That is a real issue confronting people today. Part of the reason why people are coming on to the streets is that many of these people don’t have any jobs and many of these people are worried about their future. And on top of all that the issue that arises is what happens when the National Population Register takes place and the enumerators come to each house and start asking questions in addition to the NPR decided by us way back in 2010. So people are worried that now their fate in respect of citizenship is in the hands of a person who will come to their house and has the capacity and the right to put against their name which means they become part of a doubtful category of citizens. Normally in a NPR all that is required is your residence in the past six months. But now with the additional questions people are worried as to what the consequences of that will be. As has happened in the north-east already, you have seen this has created a lot of problems. Of the 19 lakh people who were not part of the Assam NRC, over 12 lakhs were Hindus. The central government thought it would be only Muslims who would be part of that category.

Q. Are the anti-CAA protests a minority driven protest as claimed by the government?

A.How is it minority driven when 12 lakh Hindus were involved in Assam NRC? If that is the experiment with Rs 1600 crore spent in Assam and Rs 30,000 crores to be spent if the exercise is carried out nationally, may be lakhs and lakhs of people who don’t belong to the minorities, may be people who vote for the Congress or any opposition party, D might be put against their name. This could be a very divisive agenda.

Q.You have made strong remarks against senior BJP leaders who made hate speeches before Delhi communal violence but are roaming free. Your comments!

A.This is targeted violence. It is unfortunate that the Delhi police have turned a blind eye and in several instances the police were upfront. I have seen images in many cases where policemen are goading people who are injured and lying on the ground asking them to sing “Jan gan man” and beating up people. I am very surprised that no action has been taken against hate mongers. I think this is a very serious issue that BJP leaders were making hate speeches but face no action. Apart from the fact that the administration is not going to do anything, the courts should sit up and take notice. This is a corona like virus which is a communal virus which is going to spread if it is not nipped in the bud. I am very happy that the Chief Justice of India has directed the matters that were adjourned for four weeks to be listed for Friday to be decided whichever way the court thinks appropriate. These are offences committed under Section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code which says anybody who gives such hate speeches is liable to be prosecuted. Why has the police not even lodged an FIR? Interestingly, the Prime Minister wakes up after 69 hours and then appeals for peace.

Q. Have you ever seen this kind of violence in the national capital? Was the carnage a design?

A. These riots were politically motivated and organized… may be the attackers came from outside. The wonderful part of the episode was that neighbours, both Muslims and Hindus, protected each other. Those who instigated this violence are trying to dismantle the social fabric of amity. People want peace and are not willing to fight each other but outsiders tried to disturb peace. In fact, Chandni Chowk area in Delhi which I earlier represented in the Lok Sabha and where both Hindus and Muslims have lived together peacefully remained calm but the violence took place in north-eastern region of Delhi where the BJP won several assembly seats recently. This speaks volumes about who was behind the carnage.

Q. How do see the role of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the entire episode?

A. There has been a consistent course of conduct that I have witnessed as far as the Aam Aadmi Party is concerned. When the JNU violence happened they did not take any pro-active step, when Jamia University violence happened, they maintained a distance. They tried to counter BJP through other type of agenda that I don't want to discuss. When the Delhi violence took place they did nothing and when delegations went to meet the CM, they had to face water cannons. Their course of conduct shows a diabolical political motivation.

Q. Where does the Congress see the fight going?

A.What I see people themselves are coming out against CAA. The government should feel the anger among the people. The moment too much politics goes into it the government will say the opposition is trying to fuel violence. This movement cannot last long unless the agitation has a national flavour to it. I don’t think that as political parties we should not be stoking fires like this but at the same time we must go to the streets and lead a peaceful agitation. So the message goes across the country that we must protect the social fabric.

Q. Do you think the recent Delhi violence, which unfolded during US President Donald Trump’s visit, has tarnished India’s image?

A. For the first time in the history of India, these issues have become global issues. You have people across political parties in the United Kingdom protesting, you have Iran, somebody who has been so close to India, protesting, you have Turkey’s Erdogan protesting, you have the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights protesting, others in the Middle-East and in the United States across party lines protesting.

Q.Does that mean the centre’s handling of the violence has given these countries a lever against India?

A.The Union of India seems to be living in isolation. You see, we are today living in a globalised world. The communications revolution makes every internal matter of this magnitude an external issue. I think, this government is failing to recognise that. To respond to somebody, who says look don’t allow this to happen in your country, and to say that it is an internal matter… is not going to gel and not going to pass the muster. It is unfortunate that a place like Delhi which became centre of global news because of the violence, those in Delhi, the PM, HM, chief minister and police commissioner all were absentees. This tells you about the direction the country’s politics is taking.

Q. The Congress and the other opposition parties are pressing for a debate on the Delhi violence in Parliament but there seems to be a logjam over it...

A. I am surprised that the Lok Sabha Speaker says there will be a discussion after Holi. So what is so special in a discussion after Holi…why not before Holi? Why should not there be a discussion and all that we want is a discussion? Is the government running away from a debate on the issue? The government has been insensitive to all concerns relating to the people. This applies not only to Delhi violence, but a sliding economy as well. They keep on saying the economy fundamentals are fine, if that is so why the growth is less than 5 percent and why is there no demand.

Q. How will you counter the centre?

A.I think India has changed. When we were in power, we never ever attempted to capture institutions. Now that we are out of power, we have seen a pincer like movement where this government is seeking to capture every institution and make sure they do their bidding. I think it is the failure of institutions that has brought the country to this pass. I think institutions like the judiciary, enforcement agencies, police, academia and the media will have to stand up to the government.