Communal Violence in North East Delhi, February 2020

From February 23 to 29, 2020, 17 of the 28 ‘town’ areas and one village in the north east district of Delhi were ravaged by communal violence. Fifty-four persons lost their lives. Property – homes, commercial establishments, schools – were damaged or destroyed, and religious places were attacked. Several hundred persons were injured.

The aftermath of the violence has been equally traumatic. The processes for bringing justice to the victims and punishing those who instigated the violence are being blocked by a biased police investigation. The police are creating a narrative that paints the victims of the violence as the perpetrators, and the people who worked for peace as instigators of that violence – while giving a clean chit to the rabble-rousers who gave incendiary speeches and provoked mobs towards violence.

Behind all this, without a shadow of doubt, is the nefarious agenda of the BJP government at the Centre and its political master, the RSS.

This report, compiled on the basis of dozens of detailed interviews with survivors and witnesses from both communities, looks at various aspects of the events as they unfolded over seven terrifying days.