The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party engineered the northeast Delhi riots by instigating Hindus and provoking Muslims at the Shaheen Bagh protest, drawing a sharp rebuttal from the saffron party.
The Delhi BJP said the AAP is on the "backfoot" and is trying to change the narrative by alleging that the BJP instigated Hindus. But the actual story is something else, the party said.
Addressing a press conference, AAP spokesperson and MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj claimed that the BJP leaders provoked people of both the communities which led to the communal violence in northeast Delhi on February 24, leaving 53 people dead.
"Two days back when the key functionaries of the Shaheen Bagh protest joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, it exposed the fact that on one side, the leaders of the saffron party were spreading hatred among the Hindus and on the other, their other leaders were spreading hatred among the Muslim protesters of Shaheen Bagh. This way a script was prepared and the riots took place in Delhi," Bharadwaj claimed.
Communal violence had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
Several members of the minority Muslim community from Shaheen Bagh area, which was the centre of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in New Delhi, joined the BJP on Sunday.
Bhardwaj demanded a thorough probe against the Muslim community from Shaheen Bagh area who joined the BJP.
"The Aam Aadmi Party demands that a thorough probe should take place against the 50 people who have joined the BJP and were also the organisers of Shaheen Bagh protest.
"Police should check the records of these people, find out with which BJP leaders they were in touch with, what kind of instructions the BJP leaders have given them and other issues. The police should also probe the role of these people in organising and continuing the Shaheen Bagh protest," he said.
Bhardwaj further alleged that the Delhi police under the BJP was silent when clashes erupted between anti-CAA and pro-CAA protesters which led to the riots.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said AAP is on back foot so now they are trying to change the narrative by alleging that the BJP instigated Hindus. However, the actual story is something else, he said.
"I think Saurabh Bharadwaj is confused, yesterday he himself admitted that anti-India slogan was chanted at Shaheen Bagh. Then when the BJP revealed Manish Sisodia's (Delhi Deputy Chief Minister) video supporting Shaheen Bagh, now they are on back foot. So now they are changing the angle that BJP instigated Hindus, but the actual story is something else," Khurana claimed.
He further claimed that AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan provoked Muslims.
"On one hand, the Delhi police has already given a clean chit to BJP leaders Pravesh Verma and Kapil Mishra over so called Hindu instigation. So my suggestion to Saurabh is to get his facts cleared first," Khurana said.
