Opposition leaders on Wednesday targeted Home Minister Amit Shah for the failure of the Delhi police to immediately control the riots , with several of them of asking for his resignation and many parties including the Congress demanding a judicial inquiry into the violence.
The BJP hit back by alleging a well-orchestrated conspiracy behind the riots and blamed the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests for escalating the situation.
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Initiating the debate, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wondered how violence could not be contained for three days in the capital when India could carry out an air strike across the border and blamed BJP leaders like Union Minister Anurag Thakur, Pravesh Verma and Kapil Mishra for spreading communal hatred.
Referring to the transfer of Justice S. Muralidhar, the Congress leader said the government carried out “midnight surgical strike” on the judiciary only because he had asked cases to be registered against BJP leaders.
“The Home Minister [Amit Shah] will have to explain where he was,” he said.
He said the fact that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had to go to contain violence proved the Home Ministry’s failure. “Why could not the Home Minister go... NSA reports to the Prime Minister. Does this mean that the Prime Minister’s Office had lost faith in the Home Ministry,” Mr. Chowdhury asked.
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Mr. Chowdhury’s demand for the Home Minister’s resignation was endorsed and repeated by Trimaool’s Saugata Roy, CPI(M)’s AM Ariff and RSP’s N.K. Premchandran.
Calling for an impartial probe, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi said there was a “tsunami of Hindutva hate” and that the minority community was targeted.
His remarks evoked sharp response from the Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minister of State for Home Affairs Kishan Reddy who registered their protests.
Speaker Om Birla expunged certain remarks made by Mr. Owaisi on his own.
Putting up a strong defence, BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi called the violence a well-planned conspiracy that involved a well-known global investor who allegedly funded a civil society activist to end India’s nationalism and blamed an Aam Admi councillor for instigating violence and storing weapons.
Referring to the killing of IB officer Ankit Sharma during the riots, she said 400 wounds were found on his body.
“What kind of hatred was this... we should discuss that also,” she said and blamed the Congress for misleading minorities over the CAA.
However, TMC’s Saugata Roy criticised the remarks by Ms. Lekhi, who is a senior lawyer, calling her “Devil’s advocate”.
DMK’s TR Baalu said the riots and the law and order of the national capital were discussed in Parliaments of the U.K., Iran, Indonesia, Turkey and Malaysia.
While Pianki Misra of the Biju Janata Dal said the image of the Home Minister and the Prime Minister had taken a ‘beating’ and urged the government to take strict action, AAP member Bhagwant Mann claimed that people were brought from outside to incite violence.
