A petition was filed on Monday in the Supreme Court seeking an impartial probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the clashes between two communities, which took place in many parts of the country on the occasions of Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Vineet Jindal alleged a conspiracy against the Hindu community and urged the top court to investigate possible links of ISIS or other international organizations in a bid to instigate Hindus to retaliate as they took out peaceful processions to celebrate Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti. “Clashes broke out in Jahangir Puri Delhi on April 16 on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti celebration and before that even during Ram Navami celebrations in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh and in JNU campus during peaceful processions and celebration, the devotees were attacked,” the plea stated. On the day of Hanumaan Jayanti and Ram Navami, the devotees were targeted with gunshots, and stones were pelted which injured the devotees in processions in several states leading to communal tension, the plea added. “Events indicate the involvement of terror funding with possible links of the ISIS and other anti-national and international organizations to target Hindus across the country with the intent of trying to dis-balance the social structure of India,” the petition said. “Devotees were targeted with gunshots and stones thrown at them. It is a threat to the sovereignty of the country and to instigate the Hindu community to retaliate,” it further said. Last week, communal clashes broke out in five states—Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and West Bengal—during the celebrations of Ram Navami.
A clash had erupted between two groups in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi as well over non-vegetarian food being served in the hostel mess on Ram Navami. Meanwhile, a letter petition has also been filed before the Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana urging him to take suo motu cognizance of the Jahangirpuri clashes in Delhi. Advocate Amritpal Singh Khalsa asked the Supreme Court to exercise its epistolary jurisdiction and constitute a committee headed by a sitting judge of the top court to conduct an impartial probe into the clashes. The letter stated that the “Delhi Police investigation so far, has been partial, communal and directly shielding perpetrators of the riots.” The lawyer added that the role of the Delhi Police in the 2020 riots has belittled them and has weakened the faith of the people in them. This is the second time that riots have erupted in Delhi in two years, and on both occasions, members of the minority community are only to be blamed, he added. On Saturday evening, clashes broke out in the area between members of the Hindu and Muslim communities while a ‘Shobha Yatra’ to celebrate Hanuman Jayanti was being taken out in the area.