Riots case: During bail hearing, lawyers allude to epics Mahabharata, Ramayana to draw parallels

Communal violence had broken out in north-east Delhi on February 24 after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control, leaving 53 people dead and around 400 injured.

The Delhi Police on Thursday compared the Hindu epic Mahabharata to the north-east Delhi riots while stating that just like the epic, the riots were also a story of conspiracy, in which the ”Dhritarashtra (the blind king who had conspired to start the epic war)”, is yet to be identified.

A man stands near burnt motorcycles in a riot-affected area at Shiv Vihar, in New Delhi on March 2, 2020.(Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The submissions were made by special public prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad while opposing the bail plea of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student and Pinra Tod member Natasha Narwal.

During the hearing, both the police and the counsel for the accused referred to the two epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana, to argue their cases, while drawing comparisons between the mythological characters and the alleged actors of the riots.

Referring to the accused’s contention that the charge sheet was the second biggest document after the Mahabharata, Prasad told additional sessions judge Amitabh Rawat that the WhatsApp group -- Delhi Protest Support Group (DPSG) -- was like the mythological character of Sanjaya, who had narrated the war and the other happenings to the blind king Dhritarashtra.

Prasad alleged that DPSG controlled and monitored all protest sites and the intent was not a protest but a disruptive “chakka jam” or blockade, the end result of which was violence.

“The accused’s counsel argued that the Mahabharata was 22,000 pages and the charge sheet was 17,000 pages. I would like to point out that Mahabharata was the story of a conspiracy and this case is also that of a conspiracy. In Mahabharata, Sanjaya was the one who was able to see everything, “ Prasad said.

“The Sanjaya of this conspiracy was DPSG. Sanjaya was narrating everything to Dhritarashtra. The Dhritarasthra here is yet to be identified. We have seen that their (accused’s) intent was not protest, but a disruptive chakka jam and clear indications that the end result was violence,” the public prosecutor said.

Detailing Narwal’s role, the SPP said she was brought on to the DPSG group after she was able to set up the protest site at Seelampur. She was part of the DPSG group which was controlling and monitoring all protest sites. She attended the alleged conspiratorial meeting of February 16 and February 17. The chats have clearly revealed that there was a proposal to incite violence.

“She was privy to the principal conspirators. She was coordinating with the Jamia coordination committee. Detailed elaborations are not required on the merits at this point. The prima facie case stands established,” the public prosecutor said.

Advocate Adit Pujari, appearing for Narwal, also referred to the Mahabharata and claimed that over the past eight-odd hearings, a “Chakravyuh ( a wheel formation to trap an opponent)” has been prepared by the prosecution, but his client, like the mythological character of Abhimanyu in the Mahabharata, would try to break out of it.

“Let’s be very clear that the reason this is being done is because the charge sheet does not really contain a prima facie case,” he said.

“This is not going to be a Ramayana where we are going to wait 14 years to see if we can finally come out… It is happening here and now; we are arguing this now,” Pujari said.

Pujari said 53 people had died in the riots, but the charge sheet revolved around the deaths of only three persons— head constable Ratan Lal, civilian Rahul Solanki and intelligence bureau officer Ankit Sharma.

He further said selective reading of WhatsApp chats by the prosecution was “unfair”.

The bail plea will be further heard on December 22.

Communal violence had broken out in north-east Delhi on February 24 after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control, leaving 53 people dead and around 400 injured.