Delhi Riots: Delhi Police Names Sitaram Yechury, Yogendra Yadav, Jayati Ghosh As Co-Conspirators

NEW DELHI: In connection with the Delhi riots in February, Delhi Police have named CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav, economist Jayati Ghosh, Delhi University professor and activist Apoorvanand, and documentary filmmaker Rahul Roy as co-conspirators.

The names appeared in a supplementary charge sheet in connection to the riots that broke out in North-East District between February 23 and 26, which claimed 53 lives and left 581 injured, 97 of them having gunshot wounds.

Delhi police have accused them of asking anti-CAA protesters to go to “any extreme”, spreading discontent in the community by calling CAA/NRC anti-Muslim, and organise demonstrations to “malign the image of the Government of India”.

These eminent personalities have been made accused based on the confessions of three students—women’s collective Pinjra Tod members and JNU students Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, and Gulfisha Fathima of Jamia Milia Islamia—in the Jafrabad violence, from where the riots spread to other parts of north-east Delhi. All three are facing charges under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, as reported by a news agency.

Delhi police claimed that Kalita and Narwal had not only admitted that they were complicit in the riots but also named Ghosh, Apoorvanand and Roy as their mentors, who had allegedly asked them to carry out the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and go to “any extreme”.

According to the chargesheet, the students said that they organised the Daryaganj protest in December and the Jafrafad chakka jam (road block) against the CAA on February 22, 2020 at the behest of Ghosh, Apoorvanand and Roy.

Police said that they have also used Jamia student Fathima's statement to corroborate the events. The charge sheet claims that apart from Yechury and Yogendra Yadav, Fathima’s statement mentions Bhim Army chief Chandrasekhar, United Against Hate activist Umar Khalid and some leaders from the Muslim community such as ex-MLA Mateen Ahmed, and MLA Amannatullah Khan. It said that they aided the conspirators of the violence.

In her statement, Fathima said she was told to organise the protest to “malign the image of the Government of India”, the police claimed.

In her statement, included in the charge sheet, she says that ¨big leaders and lawyers started coming in to provoke and mobilize this crowd, including Omar Khalid, Chandrashekhar Ravan, Yogendra Yadav, Sitaram Yechury, and lawyer Mahmood Pracha, etc”.

“Pracha said the sitting in demonstration is your democratic right and the rest of the leaders filled the feeling of discontent in the community by calling CAA/NRC anti-Muslim¨ she said, according to the charge sheet.

According to the charge sheet, Kalita added, “Umar Khalid had also given some tips for doing protest against CAA/NRC. On the directions of these persons, Umar Khalid’s United Against Hate Group and JCC (Jamia Coordination Committee) & members of our Pinjda Tod (we) together started protest in difierent parts of Delhi,” as quoted by a news agency.