Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia visited riot-hit Shiv Vihar in north-east Delhi on Wednesday night to take stock of the situation and interacted with residents.
“I have been in touch with large number of people whole night. Situation alarming. Police, despite all its efforts, unable to control situation and instil confidence. Army should be called in and curfew imposed in rest of affected areas immediately. Am writing to Hon’ble HM to this effect [sic],” Mr. Kejriwal said in a tweet on Wednesday morning.
“I had requested the Home Minister this morning [Wednesday] and now, through this House, I would like to appeal to him again that if necessary, the Army should be called in to control the situation in the city,” he added.
Earlier in the day, speaking at the Delhi Assembly House, the Chief Minister said that the violence in north-east Delhi, in which over 20 people were killed, was unleashed by people from outside and some political and anti-social elements.
“Whatever happened in the last three days was not done by Delhi’s common man. It was done by people from outside, some political and anti-social elements. Because of these people’s actions, some pockets of Delhi are burning,” he said.
The Chief Minister also said that the Delhi government will give ₹1 crore as compensation to the family of head constable Ratan Lal, who died while on duty in the riot-hit area, and one person from his family will be given a government job.
“We are hearing that it is a Hindu-Muslim fight. Hindus and Muslims are not fighting in Delhi,” Mr. Kejriwal said. He then read out the names of people who have died in the violence in north east Delhi and said that both Hindus and Muslims have died in the violence.
“Hindus and Muslims in Delhi never want to fight. Everyone has suffered losses in the riots. Over 20 people have been killed. Veer Bhan has died, he was a Hindu. Mohammad Mubaraq has died, he was a Muslim. Parvesh was killed, he was a Hindu. Zakir has died, he was a Muslim. Rahul Solanki has died, he was a Hindu. Shahid and Muhammad Furqan have died, they were Muslims. Rahul Thakur has died, he was a Hindu. Hindus and Muslims have died in the riots. A policeman was also killed. I also have a list of the injured. Hindus and Muslims both have been injured, both are suffering,” he said.
Stories of unity
“Many stories of unity were also heard from several parts of the city. It was observed that all the Hindus got together to save a Muslim residing in their area. Somewhere it was learnt that there is a Hindu in the Muslim-dominated area and all the Muslims saved his life. This is our Delhi. This is the future of Delhi. The situation is very sensitive,” the Chief Minister said.
Before visiting Shiv Vihar, Mr. Kejriwal , Mr. Sisodia and AAP MP Sanjay Singh held a meeting with senior police officers at the office of Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-East) in Seelampur.
