Jamia violence: AAP, BJP lock horns, blame each other for clashes

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal condemned the violence, describing it as “unacceptable”, and urged people to protest peacefully.

As Sunday’s protests took a violent turn in the national capital, a political war of words broke out between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over who had fanned the flames.

Violence broke out over the amended citizenship act in Delhi on Sunday evening, with public buses being set on fire in a busy south Delhi colony and police using tear gas on protesters gathered near Jamia Millia Islamia. (Sanjeev Verma / HT Photo)

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, however, condemned the violence, describing it as “unacceptable”, and urged people to protest peacefully.

“No one should indulge in violence. Any kind of violence is unacceptable. Protests should remain peaceful,” Kejriwal tweeted. He later said that he spoke to lieutenant governor (L-G) Anil Baijal and urged him to take necessary steps to restore normalcy.

“We are also doing everything possible at our end. Real miscreants who caused violence should be identified and punished,” he said.

Earlier in the day, training his guns at the AAP, the BJP’s Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari blamed Kejriwal and his party for “provoking people” over changes to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. “The people of Delhi will teach AAP traitors a lesson,” he said.

“The arson and vandalism unleashed in Delhi was a well-thought out conspiracy to stoke violence in the capital by AAP leader Amanatullah Khan with the consent of Arvind Kejriwal. The AAP workers from Okhla burnt buses and damaged public property,” Gupta said.

Khan, who is the MLA from Okhla, dismissed the allegation and later posted a video saying he was nowhere near the vicinity of the clashes at the time. “I was present at a demonstration in Shaheen Bagh. There is no incident of violence or arson that took place in that gathering. So, the allegation that violence took place and buses were set ablaze in my presence is absolutely baseless. Top police officials of the area were present there. The area is covered under CCTV surveillance,” Khan said.

Not long after, Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia shared on social media a video clip and photographs of an unidentified person apparently emptying a fuel canister inside a bus in the presence of police officials, blaming the BJP for orchestrating the incident and demanding an inquiry into the incident.

He said, “The BJP has engaged in arson in the fear of losing elections. The AAP is against any form of violence. This is all BJP’s dirty politics. In the videos and photographs, people can be seen indulging in arson in presence of police officials… These photographs prove that this is nothing but the BJP’s dirty politics. Do the leaders of the BJP have any answers? Who is behind this act? The whole matter should be subjected to an unbiased probe.”

The AAP’s Rajya Sabha member from Delhi Sanjay Singh appealed for an end to the blame game. “AAP believes in a healthy democracy and respecting the Constitution. It is the BJP which believes in blame game.”

The Congress also described the clashes as unfortunate.

“We condemn the Citizenship Amendment Act but we also condemn the violence that happened today. We urge people to maintain peace,” said the Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra.