Likening it to the communal clashes that erupted at Trilokpuri last year, and demanding a High Court-monitored probe into the incident, the Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) has blamed “Hindutva forces with police collusion” for a clash between two communities at Khajuri Khas last Friday.
On July 31, several local residents and some policemen had been injured during a mini riot at a spot just a stone's throw away from the local police station.
The police had attributed the incident to a gradual build up of tension between the two communities which was triggered in the aftermath of the interception of a vehicle transporting animal skins and meat products.
“The workers (living in the locality where the incident took place) had left in the morning for their work place that day and returned only at night. However they told the IFTU team that some incident had occurred because people protested as the Muslims ’had cut up’ a cow. When asked if they had met anyone who had seen this, or whether this routinely happened, they retracted,” the report states.
“The police is fully hand in glove with those Hindutva elements who attempted to provoke communal violence. With a police beat box, a PCR van present in the area, a crowd cannot unnoticed block a road and march up to the chowk and then beat up two Muslims and set two bikes on fire. The police chose not to intervene,” the report, penned by Rajesh, secretary, Jai Prakash, joint secretary and Raja, west Delhi IFTU, stated further.
According to the IFTU fact-finding mission, the Aam Aadmi Party-led (AAP) Delhi government's silence on the matter despite its willingness to “to take on the police and the Centre when AAP legislators or their appointees are involved” was also suspect.
The IFTU demanded why the AAP government had not questioned “the veracity of the police story” attributing it to the party's role in the Trilokpuri incident where the local MLA was missing in action.
A senior Delhi Police official denied the allegations levelled against the force by the workers' rights body.
“Arrests of those found involved in the incident were made soon after and local police personnel went beyond their limited briefs to quell tension in the area – of any kind; further investigation is still underway and those found guilty of alleged hate-mongering will be brought t book as and when their role is established,” said a senior police officer.
