2. Justice Madan B. Lokur, former Judge of the Supreme Court (Chairperson)
Justice A.P. Shah, former Chief Justice of the Madras and Delhi High Courts
and former Chairman, Law Commission
Justice R.S. Sodhi, former Judge of the Delhi High Court
Justice Anjana Prakash, former Judge of the Patna High Court
G.K. Pillai, IAS (Retd.), former Home Secretary, Government of India
UncertainJustice:
ACitizensCommitteeReport
ontheNorthEastDelhiViolence2020
3. An initiative of the
ConstitutionalConductGroup(CCG)
https://www.constitutionalconduct.com
October 2022
Permission is granted to reproduce material in this
report without prior written consent so long as
proper attribution is made.
This report is available electronically at:
https://www.constitutionalconduct.com and
https://www.citizenscommitteeondelhiriots.in
4. CoreTeamandContributors
CoreTeam
Leads: Siddhartha,Devika Prasad
Gitanjali Prasad
Mangla Verma
Payoshi Roy
Vipul Kumar
Contributors
Betwa Sharma
Khushi Mittal
Palash Srivastav
Parijata Bhardwaj
Saba Dave
Zeba Sikora
We thank Dr.Aparna Chandra,Chitra Ahanthem
and Sunil Kumar for their input.
For their contribution to the media analysis,
our thanks to Avani Airan,Adeel Ahmad Khan,
Anoushka Mahanta,Debashish Bardhan,
Fras Abbas,Geeta Moni,Mohammad Nawazuddin,
Sanobar Faisal,Shubhangi Shukla and
Upasana Sharma.
5. Abbreviations
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP)
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Call Detail Record (CDR)
Citizenship (Amendment) Act,2019 (CAA)
Code of Criminal Procedure,1973 (CrPC)
Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC)
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP)
First Information Report (FIR)
Foreigners’Tribunal (FT)
Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTB Hospital)
Indian Penal Code,1860 (IPC)
Investigating Officer (IO)
Jamia Millia Islamia University (Jamia University)
Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act,1999 (MCOCA)
Medico-legal case (MLC)
Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA)
Ministry of Home Affairs,Government of India (MHA)
Model Code of Conduct for the Guidance of Political Parties and Candidates (MCC)
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act,1985 (NDPS)
National Capital Territory (NCT)
National Population Register (NPR)
National Register of Citizens (NRC)
News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA)
Police Control Room (PCR)
Police Station (PS)
Popular Front of India (PFI)
Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA)
Protected Witness (PW)
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
Retired (Retd.)
SDMs (Sub-Divisional Magistrates)
Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act,1985 (TADA)
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,1967 (UAPA)
Uttar Pradesh (UP)
8. 8
North East Delhi was shaken by district-wide communal violence between February 23 and 26, 2020. 53
peoplewerekilledandhundredsinjured.Homes,schools,commercialestablishments,andplacesofworship
were attacked. This report by a Citizens Committee presents issues of concern related to the violence. The
composition of the Committee authoring the report is as follows:
g Justice Madan B. Lokur, former Judge of the Supreme Court (Chairperson);
g Justice A.P. Shah, former Chief Justice of the Madras and Delhi High Courts and former Chairman, Law
Commission;
g Justice R.S. Sodhi, former Judge of the Delhi High Court;
g Justice Anjana Prakash, former Judge of the Patna High Court; and
g G.K. Pillai, IAS (Retd.), former Home Secretary, Government of India.
TheCommittee’sreport,organizedintothreeparts,examinesdifferentfacetsoftheviolencefromitsgenesis,
nature, and aftermath. Part I sets the context of what was triggered by the amendments passed to the
citizenship law, analyses the build-up to the violence, its trajectory, and the state’s response as it unfolded.
Part II assesses the role played by sections of television and social media in channeling polarized narratives
before and after the violence. Part III contains a legal analysis of the Delhi Police investigations into the
violence, and of larger implications of the use of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).
Build-Up of Hate to Drive Conflict
Polarization between communities, particularly anti-Muslim hate, was deliberately fueled in the months
preceding the violence. The Muslim community was grappling with deep fears of loss of citizenship,
stemming from the combined effect of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), passed in December
2019, with potential exclusion through the National Register of Citizens process. By mid-December 2019,
nationwide protests erupted against the law. Delhi emerged as the epicenter of the anti-CAA movement
with North East Delhi as the site of multiple sit-in protests.
Againstthisbackground,thecampaigningfortheDelhiAssemblyelectionsgatheredmomentuminJanuary.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) focused its election campaign on the CAA issue, within a divisive narrative
framing the anti-CAA protests as anti-national and violent. Protesters were labelled “traitors” by candidates
and party leaders, such as Kapil Mishra and Anurag Thakur, at election rallies and public demonstrations.
Calls for violence against the so-called “traitors”, in the form of the “goli maaro” (Shoot the traitors) slogan,
were casually repeated,with no censure.The vilification of the protests and anti-Muslim hate was amplified
by widely viewed television news channels and social media.
TheCommitteeconductedanempiricalanalysisofthemessagingofsectionsofthetelevisionmediaaround
the CAA and the protests. This focuses on episodes aired in December 2019-February 2020 of primetime
shows of the six most viewed television news channels. These were Republic and Times Now (English), and
Aaj Tak,Zee News,India TV,and Republic Bharat (Hindi).We also examined relevant posts on various social
media platforms. The analysis reveals that the channels’ reportage of events surrounding the CAA framed
the issues as “Hindus versus Muslims” with prejudice and suspicion against the Muslim community. These
channels concentrated on vilifying anti-CAA protests, fanning unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, and
calling for their forcible shutdown.
Executive Summary
9. 9
Hindu nationalist figures such as Yati Narsinghanand and Ragini Tiwari, as well as BJP political leaders in
the fray such as Kapil Mishra, further spread hate messaging among their thousands of followers through
social media platforms from December 2019.
A confluence of powerful, far-reaching voices of politicians, televised news channels, and Hindu nationalist
figures emerged as drivers of the hate narrative. This Committee concludes that the prevalence of hate
significantly contributed to creating a climate in which a significant section of society became receptive to
incitement and calls for violence against the Muslim community.
TheFaceoftheViolence
In response to a call for a nationwide protest, anti-CAA women protesters in the Seelampur-Jaffrabad area
of North East Delhi blocked the road outside the Jaffrabad Metro Station on the night of February 22, 2020.
From the morning of February 23,BJP leaders,prominently Kapil Mishra,as well as Hindu nationalist figures
such as Ragini Tiwari, gave calls for mobilization and direct action against this group. At about 4 p.m. that
day, Kapil Mishra delivered a speech at Maujpur Chowk close to the new anti-CAA protest site. He gave an
ultimatum to the Delhi Police to “clear the roads in Jaffrabad and Chand Bagh” within 3 days, or he and his
supporterswoulddosothemselves.Hewasreferringtotheanti-CAAproteststakingplaceintheselocalities.
Shortly after his speech, stone pelting broke out between pro-CAA and anti-CAA groups in Maujpur and
Jaffrabad. It becomes clear that the hateful content purveyed on 22-23 February was designed to incite,
exhort and provoke actions of violence and these calls, thereby, appear to have acted as an immediate
trigger to the break-out.
The stone pelting across the Maujpur-Jaffrabad faultline spiraled into mass violence by the morning of 24
February. Stone pelting, arson, and gun violence by mobs on both sides spread through neighborhoods
across North East Delhi in the next few days. There were attacks on journalists reporting on the violence.
Alleged police complicity adds another important layer to the nature of violence.
While the violence in North East Delhi first broke out against pro-CAA and anti-CAA camps, it prompted
the onset of full-blown communal violence between Hindus and Muslims. The anti-Muslim hate at the root
of the pre-violence build-up carried over. While mobs clashed and caused damage to each other, Muslim
identity,rangingfromindividualstohomes,businesses,andplacesofworship,wastargeted.Thisgrimmixof
targeted as well as generalized violence resulted in the death of 40 Muslims and 13 Hindus. This Committee
concludes that the deliberate shaping of a divisive Hindu-Muslim binary, in the months preceding, finally
manifested in this communally charged violence. In this attempt to alter social relations, Muslim identity
and agency stand diminished. This Committee also notes the specific targeting of anti-CAA protest sites,
including at Chand Bagh, Kardampuri, Jaffrabad, Mustafabad and Khajuri Khas. This suggests an effort to
rein in the anti-CAA sentiment in the course of the violence.
StateFailures
All stages of the February 2020 violence – the inception, occurrence and aftermath (investigation of the
violence) – are characterized by a frightening undermining of democratic values. Tragically, the communal
polarization that heralded the violence has been hardened by state responses to the violence.
DelhiPolice
The Delhi Police failed to take punitive measures against hate speeches made by political leaders and others
in the run-up to February 23 or on the day itself. Allegations of police assisting mobs and participating in
attacks on Muslims, anti-CAA protest sites, and mosques have been documented, in eyewitness, media
and affected persons’ accounts. The Committee has obtained a limited, but credible mass of information
indicating abject police failures, including apparent police complicity, of varying degrees in the violence.
This requires investigation through an independent process, possibly a court-monitored investigation.
Executive Summary
10. 10
MinistryofHomeAffairs
TheresponseoftheGovernmentofIndia,namelytheMinistryofHomeAffairs(MHA),waswhollyinadequate.
Despite having command over both the Delhi Police and the central paramilitary forces, the MHA failed to
take effective steps to stem the spread of communal violence. Repeated assurances on February 24 and 25
by police top brass and government officials that the situation was under control did not match the visibility
of violence on the ground. Though internal alerts circulated by the Delhi Police advised increased police
deployment in North East Delhi on February 23 itself, official data shows that deployment rose only on
26 February. It appears that the numbers of police personnel were not increased on 24-25 February, even
though the maximum number of distress calls were received by the Police Stations in North East Delhi on
these days. This Committee concludes that the Central Government’s failure to respond to the violence
demands a serious examination. A comprehensive, independent review of the body of known intelligence,
total police and other security force strength, and sequence of deployment across affected areas during the
days of violence, is urgently required.
GovernmentofDelhi
The Committee also finds that the Government of Delhi did precious little during this entire time to mediate
between the communities, even with the sharp warning signs in the lead up to February 23. Recognizing
that the Delhi Government’s ability to control violence was impeded with the police under the Centre’s
political control, the Committee feels that it failed to exert the role of civic mediation and statesmanship
to calm the situation. Further, the Delhi Government has failed to ensure timely and adequate relief and
compensation to those affected by violence. Approval of compensation by the government and the Claims
Commission is riddled with delay; where decisions have been made, there are concerns regarding the
quantum of compensation not being commensurate to the harm suffered.
DelhiPoliceInvestigations
To date, the Delhi Police has registered a total of 758 First Information Reports (FIRs) pertaining to the
violence.Earlyintheinvestigations,inMarch2020,theDelhiPoliceSpecialCellregisteredaFirstInformation
Report, FIR No. 59/2020 (FIR 59), claiming that there was a pre-planned conspiracy to instigate the violence
which involved terrorist acts, and invoked the UAPA. The Committee has looked specifically at the first
chargesheet filed in FIR 59 on the alleged terrorist acts.
AllegationsofLargerConspiracyundertheUAPAFIR
ThisCommitteehascarefullyconsideredwhetherthecriminalactionsallegedinthefirstchargesheetfiledin
FIR 59 qualify as“terrorist”acts (see Chapter 8) and found no material in it substantiating the allegation that
the “unity, integrity, security, economic security, or sovereignty of India” was threatened. Neither does the
firstchargesheetcrediblycanvassthepropositionthatpersonsadvocatingtherepealoftheCAAintendedto
strike terror in the community. The Committee’s analysis reflects that the material put forward by the Delhi
Police in the chargesheet in FIR 59 does not meet the legal threshold to allege crimes of terrorism.
Further, the Committee finds that the foundation of the prosecution case – the allegation of an overarching
premeditated conspiracy aimed at orchestrating communal riots – is based on unexplained, belated
statements which are inherently unreliable in law. A comparison of the investigation in the Indian Penal
Code (IPC) FIRs with the investigation into the same allegations in FIR 59 reveal a number of contradictions
and inconsistencies. These further cast a shadow on the claims made in the first chargesheet. It is the
Committee’s view that if the core of the prosecution case bears the taint of tutoring and fabrication, this
taint looms large over the entire investigation.
InvestigationsintotheIPCCases
The analysis of the investigation into IPC cases reiterate the chronic feature of belated statements, of both
police and public witnesses, with no explanation of the delay, rendering them unreliable. Trial courts while
granting bail in the IPC cases have also commented on the incongruity of the prosecution narrative in cases
where Muslims have been accused of joining members of the Hindu community in beating Muslims. This
Committee notes that the police have neglected to investigate the role played by those who made hateful
Executive Summary
11. 11
speeches (many of which amount to the crime of hate speech) and gave calls to mobilize for discharging
violent acts, in close proximity to the onset of violence.
TheCommitteeconcludesthattheoveralldirectionoftheinvestigationappearsskewed.Itomitstoexamine
the connections between the outbreak of the violence with the spate of hate speeches and calls for violence.
It, incongruously, subjects anti-CAA protesters to a UAPA prosecution for allegedly committing violence
which ultimately targeted Muslims, and those protesting against the CAA. Only an impartial and rigorous
investigation can shed light on the truth,ensure accountability,and do justice to the victims of the violence.
UnjustifiedUseoftheUAPA
Patterns of larger use of the UAPA suggest its targeted application by the state. The law enables prolonged
pre-trial custody of individuals through drawn-out investigation and exceedingly limited grounds to secure
bail.UAPAaccusedareveryoftenacquittedintheirtrialsduetoinsufficientevidence,yet,forcedtoremainin
custody, often for years. This ensures the legal process itself becomes punishment. This Committee reiterates
the urgent need for a comprehensive review of the UAPA.
NeedforaCommissionofInquiry
This Committee finds that a Commission of Inquiry ought to be set up for an impartial inquiry to establish
thewholegamutoffactorspertainingtotheNorthEastDelhiviolence.Itiscrucialthatthetermsofreference
and the choice of the Chairperson for the proposed Commission of Inquiry assure the affected communities
of its independent and effective functioning.
BroaderTakeaways
The Committee’s examination of the violence in the North East District of Delhi has led us to discern broader
implications impacting constitutional values and the health of democracy in India. The microcosm of an
engineered anti-Muslim narrative leading to the violence signals the growing fusion of hate messaging in
public discourse with the actual incidence of violence. There seems to be a deafening lack of institutional
will to act against hateful content.
Sections of the media play a key role in propagating hateful narratives, illustrated in small part through
the study in the report. Their audience of daily watching households, as well as their social media presence,
ensures that the hateful narratives reach a very wide number. Clearly, any oversight exerted by the existing
broadcasting oversight bodies pales in proportion to the channels’ reach and leeway. For all of its benefits
as an unregulated space for speech and expression, this precise quality of social media presents serious
dangers as a carrier of rampaging hate speech and violent content. The need to regulate deeply harmful
content on social media, while retaining the free space it offers, is one of the most urgent challenges of our
times.
The clearing of the anti-CAA sit-in protests in North East Delhi cannot be overlooked as an isolated instance.
The targeted use of UAPA also cannot be ignored as innocuous. It constitutes not only a gross abuse of the
law, but represents a consistent trend of quelling dissent by invoking the tool of criminal law. The use of
violence to silence protesters and the use of UAPA in the subsequent investigation has cast a chilling effect
on the act of protesting itself. Such actions pose serious threat to the health of our democracy.
Capacity for empathetic thought and action to enable harmonious interactions, and most importantly,
imagination to resolve conflict are essential attributes for a plural society to last in the long run. It is the
Committee’s view that this communal episode has set back the internal processes through which a multi-
cultural society engenders calm and harmony, forging its plurality into a strength. Instead, an architecture
of hate and pathways to violence have been strengthened. The communities stand depleted in their ability
to heal and restore. The only way forward is for the state to act towards justice harbored in the conjoined
practice of fraternity, equality and freedom.
Executive Summary
12. 12
In February 2020,widespread communal violence broke out in the North East District of Delhi.The violence
left 53 people dead, well over 200 people injured, and homes, schools, commercial establishments and
places of worship damaged or destroyed.
Beyond the human suffering and social toll, critical questions on the breakdown of law and order and
institutional responses were raised in the public domain. The failure of the state apparatus to prevent the
violence from spreading across a district of the national capital, and gaps in relief efforts was one set of
concerns. Biased narratives projected by certain sections of the broadcast media were also flagged.
The Delhi Police began its investigations into the violence on the basis of approximately 751 FIRs alleging the
commission of offences under the IPC ranging from murder,assault,arson,rioting,and other such offences.1
In March 2020, the Delhi Police Special Cell registered an FIR, claiming that a pre-planned conspiracy
instigated the violence in North East Delhi. Originally registered under provisions of the IPC and other
select laws, terrorist offences under the UAPA were added to the FIR in April 2020. As the investigation has
progressed, lawyers and jurists have pointed out recurring lapses and omissions, some of which have been
affirmed by courts over time.
It was in this backdrop that the Constitutional Conduct Group (a public-spirited group of former civil
servants) invited a committee of retired public officials to provide an objective assessment by creating a
contemporary record of acts of omission and commission around the violence and its aftermath.2
TheCitizensCommittee
The Committee was formed in October 2020 comprising of the following members:
g Justice Madan B. Lokur, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India (Chairperson);
g Justice A.P. Shah, former Chief Justice of the Madras and Delhi High Courts and former Chairperson, Law
Commission of India;
g Justice R.S. Sodhi, former Judge of the Delhi High Court;
g Justice Anjana Prakash, former Judge of the Patna High Court;
g G.K. Pillai, IAS (Retd.), former Home Secretary, Government of India;
g Dr. Meeran Chadha Borwankar, IPS (Retd.), former Director-General, Bureau of Police Research and
Development, Government of India.
Dr.MeeranChadhaBorwankarwithdrewfromtheCommitteeinthefinalstagesofitswork.3
TheCommittee’s
report is authored by the remaining five members.
1 Affidavit of Delhi Police in AjayGautamv.GNCTofDelhi,WP (C) 2296/2020,para 5 (Table A),July 2020,Delhi High Court.
2 Please find the website of the Constitutional Conduct Group here: https://constitutionalconduct.com.
3 For the note of dissent,please see Annexure 1 of this report.
Introduction
13. 13
The Committee’s Terms of Reference were the following:
1. To inquire into the events that transpired before and during the riots, including the response
of the state machinery in dealing with the violence, the restoration of law and order, and related
matters.
2. To analyze and assess the response of the police in investigating the riots.
3. To examine the role of the mainstream and social media in spreading information, both genuine
and fake, before, during and after the riots, and its impact on the events.
4. To assess the civic administration’s efforts at providing relief and extending reparations to the
victims of riots.
TheReport
While the violence occurred more than two years ago, immediate and larger issues at the heart of how such
violence could take place and engulf an entire district still need examination.This report seeks to contribute
to the understanding of the violence and the after-effects that endure. As this effort follows earlier ones in
time, we were able to address other issues such as the role of the media, and comment on the quality of the
police investigation into the violence. We hope this report spurs discussion on these matters.
While the analysis of the investigation is based on primary legal documents including FIRs, chargesheets,
and orders passed by courts, the Committee recognizes that legal determinations are still to be settled with
trials and appeals yet to be completed, and places its examination firmly within this context.
TheCommittee’sreport,organizedintothreeparts,examinesdifferentfacetsoftheviolencefromitsgenesis,
nature, and aftermath. Part I analyses the developments that ensued following the passage of the CAA, the
build-up to the violence, the factual trajectory of the violence, and the state’s response as it unfolded. Part II
assesses the role played by sections of television and social media in channeling polarized narratives before
and after the violence.Part III contains legal analysis of the Delhi Police’s investigation into the violence and
of larger implications of the use of the UAPA.
This report comprises of 10 chapters.
Chapter1(TheContext:RecastingCitizenship)examinestheramificationsofthepassageoftheCAAparticularly
the nationwide protests that arose against the law. The responses of the police, government and the courts
are also considered.
Chapter 2 (Stoking Divisions: A Build-Up to Violence in North East Delhi) discusses key elements of a build-up
to the communal violence in Delhi in the months immediately preceding its eruption. These include the
responses of both state and non-state actors to the city-wide protests against the CAA, and the nature of
campaigning during the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly elections.
Chapter 3 (The Trajectory of the Violence) examines the chronology of the four days of violence, indicating its
movement and significant events over its duration, and summarizing the responses of state institutions. It
also flags issues of concern in the immediate aftermath.
Chapter 4 (Relief and Compensation: Gaps in Enforcement) describes the damage caused to life and property in
the course of the violence,and the gaps in disbursement of relief and compensation to the affected persons.
Chapter 5 (Troubling Dualities: News Media as Arbiter of Fact or Platform of Hate?) examines the messaging of
select prime-time TV news shows that featured debates on the CAA, the nationwide protests and the Delhi
violence.
Chapter 6 (SocialMediaasaVehicleforHateSpeech) provides an analysis of the use of social media platforms in
the spread of hate speech in the context of the Delhi violence.
Introduction
14. 14
Chapter 7 (A Comment on the Investigations into IPC Offences) critically examines the police investigations into
the IPC cases that relate to the violence.
Chapter 8 (An Analysis of the Investigation into the Terrorist Conspiracy) focuses on the investigation into the
alleged overarching conspiracy behind the violence forming the basis of FIR 59/2020. The chapter provides
an analysis of the first chargesheet filed by the Special Cell in its investigation into this FIR.
Chapter 9 (The Application of the UAPA and Fair Trial Implications) provides a wide-ranging analysis of the
implications on fair trial guarantees, once the UAPA is applied in cases. Aspects of the UAPA prosecution in
FIR 59 are also commented upon in this chapter.
Chapter 10 (Conclusions) summarizes the Committee’s main conclusions on the build-up to the violence, its
key features, accountability deficits, and reflections on broader implications.
Methodology
A team of lawyers and researchers supported the research and writing of the Committee’s report. The
Committee collected and scrutinized primary material including FIRs, chargesheets, court orders, audio-
visual and documentary material along with relevant media reports. We also reviewed secondary material,
including reports and accounts already in the public domain, as background research.
The Committee also gathered information by recording testimonies of affected persons and individuals
such as lawyers, activists, journalists and public intellectuals. These testimonies provided valuable insights
on the subject and helped researchers identify the gaps in the available material.
Background Research
The Committee has reviewed the following reports as part of its background research–AnAccountofFearand
ImpunitybyYouthforHumanRightsDocumentation;AnInvestigativeBriefingbyAmnestyInternationalIndia
(August 2020); Delhi Riots of February 2020: Causes,Fallout,and Aftermath by the Citizens & Lawyers Initiative
(September 2020); Delhi Riots 2020: Report from Ground Zero by the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians;
Fact-Finding Committee on North-East Delhi Riots of February 2020 by the Delhi Minorities Commission (July
2020); Manufacturing Evidence: How the Police is Framing and Arresting Constitutional Rights Defenders in India by
the Polis Project (August 2020); ReportofFactFindingCommitteeonRiotsinNorth-EastDelhiDuring23.02.2020
to26.02.2020 by a Committee headed by Justice Ambadas Joshi; and ShoottheTraitors: DiscriminationAgainst
Muslims under India’s New Citizenship Policy by Human Rights Watch (April 2020).
PublicNoticeandTestimonies
The Committee issued a public notice,dated October 25,2020,inviting anyone with information or material
pertaining to the Delhi violence, to share it with us in as much detail as possible.4
Based on a perusal of
this information, the Committee invited persons for further interactions. Testimonies recorded before the
Committee were done maintaining complete confidentiality.
4 Public notice issued by the Committee can be found at https://www.citizenscommitteeondelhiriots.in.
Introduction
15. 15
Part I
Recounting The February 2020
Violence in North East Delhi
Part I consists of the following chapters:
1.The Context: Recasting Citizenship
2.Stoking Divisions: A Build-Up to Violence in North East Delhi
3.The Trajectory of Violence
4.Relief and Compensation: Gaps in Enforcement
Part I sets the context in terms of the developments triggered by the
passage of the CAA including the eruption of countrywide protests
against it.Following from this,it aims to lay out a narrative of events that
explainthebuild-uptotheviolence,theperiodofviolence,andthephase
of immediate relief and compensation in its aftermath.Recognizing that
this could not be an exhaustive account, the events and developments
presented in this section are largely based on contemporaneous news
reports. Wherever possible, multiple news sources are cited to provide
corroboration. This also includes videos, tweets and any relevant social
media imprints.In piecing together this narrative,the intent is to provide
chronologicalfactsintandemwithidentifyingpatternsandobservations
emerging from the unfolding events.
16. 16
This chapter provides an overview of developments around the enactment of the CAA, particularly the
countrywide wave of protests that erupted right after it was passed in the Parliament. While examining the
divergent responses to the CAA, it is clear that it laid the ground for sectarian divisions with implications
for inter-community relations. This serves as a backdrop to recognize the factors that foreshadowed the
outbreak of communal violence in North East Delhi in February 2020.
PiecesoftheCitizenshipPuzzle
The CAA was passed by the Parliament on December 11, 2019.5
The Citizenship Act, 1955 was amended to
relax citizenship requirements for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who entered India
fromtheneighboringMuslimmajoritycountriesofPakistan,BangladeshandAfghanistanbeforeDecember
31, 2014,“due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution”. The CAA excludes Muslims, including
persecuted Muslim minorities.
The passing of the CAA spurred other interlocking parts of the citizenship regime in India, such as the
National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR). The NRC is a register of
citizens of India, living in or outside India, mandated by a 2003 amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955.6
In order to be enlisted in the NRC, every Indian resident would be required to prove their citizenship by
producing prescribed official documents. Similar to the NRC, the NPR entails a bureaucratic exercise of
preparing a comprehensive record (demographic and biometric information) of all residents of India,
including foreign nationals.Formulated for the implementation of the NRC,the Citizenship (Registration of
Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 20037
(Citizenship Rules, 2003) provide for the register
of Indian citizens living in India to be prepared after due verification against the NPR.8
Once the lists of
residents of India are prepared, officials verify to filter out “doubtful” citizens towards creating a final list of
verified citizens for the NRC.
The NRC in Assam shows how the requirement to “prove” citizenship can result in the disenfranchisement
of large groups of people. In 1997, under the directions of the Election Commission of India, the electoral
rolls in Assam underwent significant revisions keeping January 1, 1997 as the qualifying date.9
As part of
this exercise, voters who failed to provide adequate proof of their citizenship were marked as “D” Voters,
i.e., “Doubtful Voters”. These cases were then referred to the Foreigners Tribunals (FTs).10
Those considered
D voters have not been allowed to cast votes in elections held since. Rule 4(4) of the Citizenship Rules 2003,
in prescribing the process to prepare the NRC, indicates that during the verification process at local levels,
individuals whose citizenship is regarded as doubtful are marked for further inquiry in the Population
5 The Citizenship (Amendment) Act,2019 can be accessed at https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2019/214646.pdf.
6 See Section 12 of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act,2003,that can be accessed at https://egazette.nic.in/
WriteReadData/2004/E_7_2011_119.pdf.
7 The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules,2003 can be accessed at http://nrcassam.nic.
in/images/pdf/citizenship-rules.pdf.
8 Manu Sebastian,“What Is The CAA-NPR-NRC Link? [Explainer]”,LiveLaw,27 December 2019: https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/
what-is-the-caa-npr-nrc-linkexplainer-151105.
9 The Election Commission of India has issued instructions from time to time to the Chief Electoral Officer,Assam,for revision
of the electoral rolls in Assam with reference to 1.1.1997 as the qualifying date.These instructions of the Election Commission are
contained in the communications dated 7.10.1996,4.2.1997 and 17.7.1997.See H.R.A.Choudhuryv.ElectionCommissionofIndia,2002
(1) GLT 1.
10 Judges/Advocates are appointed as members of the FT under the Foreigners Tribunal Act,1941 and the Foreigners Tribunal
Order,1964.The Central Government under Section 3 of the Foreigners Act,1946,issued the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order,1964.
1. The Context:
Recasting Citizenship
17. 17
Register.11
D voters can apply for inclusion of their names in the updated NRC only after getting a favorable
order from the FT, and after their names are removed as D voter from the electoral roll.12
Under the purported cover of the CAA, non-Muslims who are unable to produce the required documents to
prove their citizenship in order to be enlisted in the NRC, can be accepted as refugees and given citizenship.
Going by this logic, Muslims alone would be left with the onerous burden to prove that they are Indian
citizens.While many Indian residents,made vulnerable by poverty,illiteracy,or lack of access to professional
assistance, would struggle to produce the required documents, Muslims without these documents may
most acutely face possible detention,or be denied all citizenship rights as they are excluded from the ambit
of the CAA.13
The combined application of the CAA-NRC has the potential of disproportionately affecting
Muslims in India.
NRCExperiencesinAssam
While voices in the government have maintained that the CAA is a humanitarian law which provides extra
protection to certain persecuted communities and does not affect anyone who is already an Indian citizen,
Muslims in India have expressed strong fears; in part attributed to the experience of the draft state-level
NRC in Assam.
InAugust2019,19lakhindividualswereexcludedfromthelistofcitizens,withMuslimsaffectedinsignificant
numbers.14
Those excluded from the NRC could approach FTs to appeal against exclusion.But in many cases,
people were given sudden notices to appear for “re-verification” of their documents within a day and had to
travel up to 300 km or more to make these appearances.15
Those who were socio-economically vulnerable,
or otherwise disadvantaged, struggled to produce the required documents to prove their citizenship.16
The
most disadvantaged included those who were poor and landless, single women, or those who did not have
access to property papers, or birth registration certificates.17
Media stories from Assam reported people
ending their lives fearing possible loss of citizenship and detention after exclusion from the list.18
11 Rule 4(4) states the following:
“During the verification process,particulars of such individuals,whose Citizenship is doubtful,shall be entered by the Local
Registrar with appropriate remark in the Population Register for further enquiry and in case of doubtful Citizenship,the individual
or the family shall be informed in a specified proforma immediately after the verification process is over.”
12 See http://nrcassam.nic.in/faq09.html.
13 PTI,“CAA,NRC may affect status of India’s Muslim minority: Congressional Research Service”,TheHindu,27 December
2019: https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/caa-nrc-may-affect-status-of-indias-muslim-minority-congressional-
research-service/article30409109.ece; Kaushik Deka,“Everything you wanted to know about the CAA and NRC”,IndiaToday,23
December 2019: https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-the-caa-and-
nrc-1630771-2019-12-23.
14 Sushanta Talukdar,“Final NRC list: List of Exclusion”,Frontline,27 September 2019: https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/
article29407333.ece.
15 Gaurav Das,“Accidents,Injuries,Panic: Sudden NRC Notices Push Assamese to Brink of Desperation”,TheWire,7 August 2019:
https://thewire.in/rights/assam-nrc-reverification-prateek-hajela.
16 Ashlin Mathew,“NRC process is especially discriminatory towards women”,NationalHerald,9 September 2019: https://www.
nationalheraldindia.com/india/nrc-process-is-especially-discriminatory-towards-women; PTI,“SC order only hope for disabled
man in Assam left out of NRC”,BusinessStandard,8 July 2019: https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/sc-order-only-
hope-for-disabled-man-in-assam-left-out-of-nrc-119070800929_1.html; Ipsita Chakravarty,“Why Assam’s NRC failed to address
the social and economic anxieties it was to resolve for good”,Scroll.in,31 August 2019: https://scroll.in/article/971789/why-assams-
nrc-failed-to-address-the-social-and-economic-anxieties-it-was-to-resolve-for-good.Further,the list of documents admissible to
prove citizenship can be found at http://nrcassam.nic.in/admin-documents.html.
17 PTI,“Women From Other States Married in Assam Excluded from NRC: Mukul Sangma”,NDTV,10 September 2019: https://www.
ndtv.com/india-news/women-from-other-states-married-in-assam-excluded-from-nrc-mukul-sangma-2098856; Arunabh Saikia,
“In Assam,many women,children fail to make NRC even as their family members are counted as citizens”,Scroll.in,31 August 2019:
https://scroll.in/article/935823/in-assam-many-women-children-fail-to-make-nrc-even-as-their-family-members-are-counted-
as-citizens; Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty,“Women Without Parents: An NRC Ground Report”,TheWire,13 September 2019: https://
thewire.in/rights/women-without-parents-an-nrc-ground-report.
18 Arunabh Saikia,“Death by Citizenship: They made it to NRC,but were dropped later–tagged as suspected foreigners”,Scroll.
in,17 July 2019: https://scroll.in/article/930730/death-by-citizenship-they-made-it-to-nrc-but-were-dropped-later-tagged-as-
suspected-foreigners; Subhir Bhaumik,“Assam NRC: Are India’s‘unwanted people’being driven to suicide?”,BBC,28 June 2019:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-48754802.
The Context:
Recasting Citizenship
18. 18
The FTs currently take matters on a referral basis from the Border Police (a unit of the Assam Police),Election
Commission, or the State Government, and decide if a person referred to them is a foreigner or not.19
Those
declared as foreigners are essentially stateless.In 2020,it was estimated that nearly 1,000 people were being
held as undocumented migrants in Assam’s six detention centers under deplorable conditions, with 10
inmates dying between 2019-2020.20
In the absence of any policy governing detention,this system has been
characterized as arbitrary and violative of international law standards.21
EarlyRhetoric
In the run-up to the passing of the CAA, the ruling party’s rhetoric around instruments of citizenship was
divisive and inflammatory. The BJP openly cast the NRC as a framework for identifying “infiltrators” to
finally expel them from the country. In April 2019, during the campaign for the general elections, the Union
Home Minister, Amit Shah, stated that the government would first bring the CAA, through which refugees
will be given citizenship, followed by a nationwide NRC.22
He further declared that “infiltrators” would not
be spared. On December 2, 2019, the Home Minister once again claimed at an election rally in Jharkhand
that “the NRC will be implemented across the country and all infiltrators identified and expelled before the
2024 polls”.23
WidespreadAnti-CAAProtestsAcrosstheCountry
In December 2019 itself, nationwide protests erupted against the CAA. Protests first began across Assam
immediately after the Amendment Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet for introduction in the Parliament
on December 4, 2019.24
The police responded by firing on protesters violating the curfew in Gauhati.25
After reports of violence against students protesting the CAA in the Jamia Millia Islamia University (Jamia
University) in Delhi, and the Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh (UP) on December 15, 2019,
widespread protests started across the country. On December 19, 2019, a nation-wide bandh was called by
political parties to oppose the CAA.26
There were over 600 documented anti-CAA protests across the country
which saw the active participation of a diverse range of individuals, particularly Muslim women.27
Protests
19 Talha Abdul Rahman,2020,“Identifying the Outsider: An Assessment of Foreigner Tribunals in the Indian State of Assam”,
StatelessnessandCitizenshipReview 2(1),pg.131: https://statelessnessandcitizenshipreview.com/index.php/journal/article/view/141.
20 Nazim Siddique,2020,“Inside Assam’s Detention Camps: How the Current Citizenship Crisis Disenfranchises Indians”,Economic
andPoliticalWeekly 15(7): https://www.epw.in/engage/article/inside-assams-detention-camps-how-current; PTI,“Govt lodged 3,331
people in Assam detention centres,10 died last year”,BusinessStandard,17 March 2020: https://www.business-standard.com/article/
pti-stories/10-inmates-of-detention-centres-in-assam-died-in-last-one-year-govt-120031700816_1.html.
21 Mohsin Alam Bhatt and Aashish Yadav,“The NRC in Assam doesn’t just violate human rights of millions–it also breaks
international law”,Scroll.in,7 July 2021: https://scroll.in/article/983130/the-nrc-in-assam-doesnt-just-violate-human-rights-it-also-
breaks-international-law.
22 Bharatiya Janata Party,“CAB will be applicable in the entire country and not just confined to West Bengal: Shri Amit Shah”,23
April 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z__6E5hPbHg.
23 Express Web Desk,“Amit Shah sets pan-India NRC deadline: Will drive out illegal immigrants before 2024”,TheIndianExpress,
2 December 2019: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/pan-india-nrc-by-2024-will-drive-illegal-immigrants-out-of-country-
amit-shah-6146844.
24 PTI,“Assam goes up in flames with violent anti-CAB protests; Modi govt pushes ahead with bill”,Mint,11 December 2019:
https://www.livemint.com/news/india/assam-goes-up-in-flames-with-violent-anti-cab-protests-modi-govt-pushes-ahead-with-
bill-11576078934783.html.
25 PTI,“Anti-CAB stir: People defy curfew,police open fire as Assam”,TheEconomicTimes,12 December 2019: https://economictimes.
indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/anti-cab-protests-in-assam-police-opens-fire-on-protestors/articleshow/72487251.cms.
26 PTI,“Left parties to organize joint nationwide protest against Citizenship Bill on Dec 19”,TheEconomicTimes,12 December 2019:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/left-parties-to-organise-joint-nationwide-protest-against-
citizenship-bill-on-dec-19/articleshow/72490625.cms.
27 This website gives an overview: https://protestmonitor.factchecker.in; Ritu Menon,“Anti-CAA protests by Muslim women are
about where,how and why you belong”,TheIndianExpress,4 February 2020: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/
shaheen-bagh-anti-caa-protest-mother-india-6249503.
The Context:
Recasting Citizenship
19. 19
at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi became a popular symbol and inspired many others.28
With notable exceptions in
the early days, the anti-CAA protests were largely peaceful.
UseofForcebyPoliceatProtestSites
There were many reports of police brutality against anti-CAA protesters in UP, Karnataka, and Delhi. In UP
alone, 22 people were killed during the protests within two days.29
There were reports of gross excesses
by the police in making arrests, raiding homes and shooting people across both rural areas and cities.30
In early December, protests in Assam saw incidents of violence where five people were killed in police
firing, including one boy aged 17; in Mangalore, Karnataka, two people were killed in police firing when a
proclamation under Section 144, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) was apparently violated.31
Sedition cases were filed against many anti-CAA protesters, including university students.32
There was
widespread imposition of Section 144 in Gujarat,33
Karnataka,34
UP,35
Andhra Pradesh,36
Madhya Pradesh,37
Uttarakhand,38
Haryana,39
West Bengal,40
and Delhi.41
A few High Courts passed orders against the use of force and other actions by the police against anti-CAA
protesters.The Karnataka High Court quashed the imposition of Section 144,CrPC (for the period December
19 to 21, 2019), calling it “illegal”.42
A Muslim petitioner from Beed in Maharashtra asked the Aurangabad
benchoftheBombayHighCourttoallowhimandotherstoconductasit-inprotest,thepermissionforwhich
wasdeniedbytheDistrictMagistrate.Atwo-judgebenchruledthattheOrderbytheDistrictMagistrateand
police prohibiting the protest was illegal, and further, that people who are protesting peacefully against
28 Anuj Kumar,“Women playing prominent role in anti-CAA,NRC protests”,TheHindu,9 February 2020: https://www.thehindu.
com/news/national/other-states/women-playing-prominent-role-in-anti-caa-nrc-protests/article30777618.ece.
29 Express News Service,“22 people died in violence during anti-CAA protests: UP govt to HC”,TheIndianExpress,19 February 2020:
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/22-people-died-in-violence-during-anti-caa-protests-up-govt-to-hc-6275092.
30 Express Web Desk,“UP sees most deaths and violence in anti-CAA protests: The stories we know so far”,The IndianExpress,27
December 2019: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/uttar-pradesh-citizenship-law-protests-yogi-adityanath-6185483.
31 The Wire Staff,“These Are the 25 People Killed During Anti-Citizenship Amendment Act Protests”,TheWire,23 December 2019:
https://thewire.in/rights/anti-caa-protest-deaths.
32 Akash Sriram,“10 things you need to know about the CAA protests in Delhi”,DeccanHerald,25 February 2020: https://www.
deccanherald.com/national/national-politics/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-caa-protests-in-delhi-807989.html.
33 Express News Service,“CAA protests: IIM-A professors,3 others challenge continued imposition of Section 144”,The Indian
Express,27 December 2019: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/caa-protests-iim-a-professors-3-others-challenge-
continued-imposition-of-section-144-6186879.
34 Sharan Poovanna,“Section 144 imposed in Bengaluru,other parts of Karnataka to disallow protests against CAA,NRC”,Mint,18
December 2019: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/section-144-imposed-in-bengaluru-other-parts-of-karnataka-to-disallow-
protests-against-caa-nrc-11576688875291.html.
35 Omar Rashid,“Section 144 enforced in all of U.P.ahead of CAA protest”,TheHindu,20 December 2019: https://www.thehindu.
com/news/national/other-states/section-144-enforced-in-all-of-up-ahead-of-caa-protest/article30343108.ece.
36 Staff Reporter,“Police extends Sec.144 in Vijayawada up to Feb.29”,TheHindu,14 January 2020: https://www.thehindu.com/
news/national/andhra-pradesh/police-extends-sec-144-in-vijayawada-up-to-feb-29/article30569991.ece.
37 ANI,“MP: Sec 144 imposed in Gohalpur,Miloniganj,Hanumanatal and Adhartal”,ANI,20 December 2019: https://www.aninews.
in/news/national/general-news/mp-sec-144-imposed-in-gohalpur-miloniganj-hanumanatal-and-adhartal20191220205149.
38 TNN,“Section 144 imposed in Haridwar”,The TimesofIndia,22 December 2019: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/
dehradun/section-144-imposed-in-haridwar/articleshow/72918467.cms.
39 TNN,“Section 144 in Karnal over fears of CAA protests”The TimesofIndia,21 December 2019: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.
com/city/gurgaon/sec-144-in-karnal-over-fears-of-caa-protests/articleshow/72910050.cms.
40 Tanmay Chatterjee,“In a first,Bengal govt enforces Section 144 to stop BJP’s pro-CAA rallies”,HindustanTimes,14 January 2020:
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/in-a-first-bengal-govt-enforces-section-144-to-stop-bjp-s-pro-caa-rallies/story-
iW10NOySFiGTunexIyDf4K.html.
41 Scroll Staff,“Delhi violence: Section 144 in Shaheen Bagh; NHRC forms fact-finding team to probe clashes”,Scroll.in,1 March
2020: https://scroll.in/latest/954783/delhi-violence-section-144-in-shaheen-bagh-nhrc-forms-fact-finding-team-to-probe-clashes.
42 SowmyaR.Reddyv.StateofKarnataka,2020 SCC OnLine Kar 1527,paras 29,33.
The Context:
Recasting Citizenship
20. 20
a law cannot be called traitors or anti-national.43
The Allahabad High Court took suo moto cognizance of
police excesses in responding to anti-CAA protests in UP and ordered the Lucknow district administration
to remove the controversial “name and shame” hoardings of those arrested during the protests. The Court
stated that these violated people’s right to privacy that is protected under Article 21 of the Constitution.44
PoliticalDivergenceontheCAA
The CAA was severely criticized by the Opposition. 20 political parties came together to issue a resolution
against the CAA on January 13, 2020.45
Seven State Governments – Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,
Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, and West Bengal – passed resolutions against the CAA in January-February
2020. In March 2020, the Delhi Legislative Assembly passed a resolution urging the withdrawal of the NPR
and NRC.46
Illustrative excerpts from State Governments’ resolutions are reproduced as follows:
g The resolution of the Kerala Legislature said that“since the Citizenship Amendment Act is against
the secular view of the Constitution, it violates the basic structure of the Constitution.”47
g The resolution of the Punjab Legislative Assembly stated that “it is divisive and stands for
everything opposed to a free and fair democracy, which must enshrine equality for all. Alongside
the religion-based discrimination in granting citizenship, it is apprehended that the CAA is also
likely to endanger the religious and cultural identity of some sections of our people.”48
g While moving the resolution in the Rajasthan Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti
Dhariwal said that “the CAA is an onslaught on the secular structure of the Constitution.”49
g Similarly, according to the resolution of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, “there have been
concerted attempts to tinker with the inclusive and non-religious nature of Indian citizenship
through the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, the National Population Register and the National
Register of Citizens. Besides violating principles of equality, non-discrimination, secularism, this
concerted attempt will also endanger the lives of vulnerable groups who do not possess adequate
documentary proof of citizenship.”50
g The resolution of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly said that in the CAA “religion has been
used as a yardstick to measure eligibility to apply for Indian citizenship…the ruling party in the
Centre has been driving a wedge among the people using religion [thus] damaging human rights.”51
Other State Governments including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Odisha also indicated their
reluctance to implement the CAA-NRC.52
The Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution asking the Central
43 IftekharZakeeShaikhv.StateofMaharashtra,2020 SCC OnLine Bom 244,para 9.
44 Order dated 9.3.2020,In-ReBannersPlacedOnRoadSideInTheCityOfLucknow,PIL No.532/2020,Allahabad High Court.
45 Express Web Desk,“Withdraw CAA,stop NRC,NPR: 20 Opposition parties pass resolution”,TheIndianExpress,13 January 2020:
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/after-mamata-now-bsp-chief-mayawati-to-skip-cong-led-opposition-meet-6213624.
46 Pretika Khanna,“Delhi assembly passes resolution against NPR in present form”,Mint,14 March 2020: https://www.livemint.
com/news/india/delhi-assembly-passes-resolution-against-npr-and-nrc-11584108452099.html.
47 A copy of the resolution in Malayalam on the official website can be found at www.niyamasabha.org/codes/14kla/session_17/
New%20folder/resolution-31-12-19.pdf.
48 PTI,“Punjab Assembly passes resolution against CAA by voice vote”,The TimesofIndia,17 January 2020: https://timesofindia.
indiatimes.com/india/punjab-assembly-moves-resolution-against-caa/articleshow/73326176.cms.
49 Mohammed Iqbal,“Rajasthan Assembly passes resolution against CAA”,TheHindu,25 January 2020: https://www.thehindu.
com/news/national/other-states/rajasthan-assembly-passes-resolution-against-caa/article30651563.ece.
50 A copy of this resolution on the official website can be found at https://legislation.telanganalegislature.org.in//PreviewPage.
tsl?filePath=basePath&fileName=ResolutionOrdinance/Files/Eng_Resolution16_78.pdf.
51 Shiv Sahay Singh,“West Bengal Assembly passes resolution against CAA”,TheHindu,27 January 2020: https://www.thehindu.
com/news/national/other-states/west-bengal-govt-tables-anti-caa-resolution-in-assembly/article30664646.ece.
52 FPJ Web Desk,“From Bengal to Punjab: 10 states which have refuses to implement CAA-NRC”,TheFreePressJournal,24 December
2019: https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/from-bengal-to-punjab-10-states-which-have-refuses-to-implement-caa-nrc.
The Context:
Recasting Citizenship
21. 21
Government to repeal the CAA because it was a “betrayal” of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees.53
In fact, the law
excludes quite a few other minority groups such as minority Tamils from Sri Lanka, ethnic Nepalis from
Bhutan, and a host of Muslim minorities like the Rohingyas from Myanmar, the Hazaras from Afghanistan,
and the Shias and Ahmadias from Pakistan.
The Government of Kerala moved the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the CAA.54
According to the petition filed, the CAA is “discriminatory” and “a colorable legislation; in as much as
there is a constitutional prohibition to making the said legislation in violation of the secular nature of the
Constitution.”55
Meanwhile, in January 2020, the Gujarat Assembly passed a resolution in support of the
CAA.56
WiderReactions
Different groups within civil society responded through public writings, speeches, and ultimately, with
widespread street protests, to express their fears about the CAA. When the Citizenship (Amendment)
Bill, 2019 was initially tabled, 625 civil society members wrote a letter demanding its withdrawal, warning
that its “blatant exclusion of a community” was divisive and discriminatory, and that it would “damage,
irreparably, the nature of the Indian republic”.57
The wider arguments included the perspective that the CAA
isunconstitutionalasitdiscriminatesonthebasisofreligion,andthatthereisnorationalbasisforproviding
protection to certain groups and excluding others. After the passing of the Act, many letters of protest and
condemnation were issued by public intellectuals, such as the one signed by approximately 2000 scientists
and scholars working across Indian and foreign universities and research institutions.58
The international community also responded to the passing of the CAA. The Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a public statement characterizing the new law as
“fundamentally discriminatory” and incompatible with India’s international human rights obligations.59
It
filed an intervention in the Supreme Court in petitions related to the CAA.60
The Organization of Islamic
Cooperation declared that it was “increasingly concerned” about the CAA for apparently discriminating
against Indian Muslims.61
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (an independent,
bipartisan US federal government commission that monitors the right to freedom of religion or belief
across the world) raised early concerns about the law using religion as a pathway to citizenship to be against
53 PTI,“Tamil Nadu govt passes resolution against CAA,says law betrayed Sri Lankan refugees”,ThePrint,8 September 2021: https://
theprint.in/india/tamil-nadu-govt-passes-resolution-against-caa-says-law-betrayed-sri-lankan-refugees/730278.
54 PTI,“Kerala government moves Supreme Court challenging Citizenship Amendment Act”,TheEconomicTimes,14 January
2020: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/kerala-government-moves-supreme-court-challenging-
citizenship-amendment-act/articleshow/73239727.cms.
55 Petition filed by the State of Kerala can be accessed at https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/pdf_upload-369068.pdf.
56 TNN,“Gujarat Assembly: Pro-CAA resolution passed”,TheTimesofIndia,11 January 2020: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
city/ahmedabad/pro-caa-resolution-passed/articleshow/73196492.cms.
57 Scroll Staff,“Citizenship Bill: Writers and scholars warn of‘untold suffering’and irreparable damage to India”,Scroll.in,10
December 2019: https://scroll.in/latest/946409/citizenship-bill-writers-and-scholars-warn-of-untold-suffering-and-irreparable-
damage-to-india.
58 A copy of the statement can be accessed at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dmuimPt4jESfWqqdz361N4aQu0Je0tiuoy0y
p9nVp4w/edit.
59 UN News,“New citizenship law in India‘fundamentally discriminatory’: UN human rights office”,UNNews,13 December 2019:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1053511.
60 Elizabeth Roche,“UN High Commissioner seeks SC intervention in Citizenship Amendment Act”,Mint,3 March 2020: https://
www.livemint.com/politics/news/un-high-commissioner-seeks-sc-intervention-in-citizenship-amendment-act-11583226043265.
html.
61 PTI,“OIC expresses concern over CAA; says‘closely’following developments”,TheEconomicTimes,23 December 2019: https://
economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/oic-expresses-concern-over-caa-says-closely-following-developments/
articleshow/72931689.cms.
The Context:
Recasting Citizenship
22. 22
the core tenet of “religious pluralism”, and describing it as a “dangerous turn in the wrong direction”.62
54
lawmakers of the European Parliament tabled a resolution criticizing the discriminatory nature of the CAA,
which finally was not adopted.63
On the other hand, former Solicitor General, Harish Salve published an article arguing that the CAA is not
discriminatory.64
154 prominent citizens also wrote to the President supporting the CAA, NRC, and NPR.65
InAugust2022over160petitionschallengingtheconstitutionalvalidityoftheCAAwerependingbeforethe
Supreme Court from January 22, 2020.66
Evolving Response of the Central Government
In the weeks following the passing of the CAA, it appeared that the Central Government lacked clarity on
the relationship between the CAA,NRC and NPR.Confusion also reigned over how NPR data would be used
for the CAA process, with the Law Minister contradicting the Home Minister, saying that the NPR data “may
or may not be used for the NRC”.67
Faced with the widespread anti-CAA protests, some mixed responses
emerged at the highest levels of political leadership. On December 23, 2019, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi
distanced his government from a pan-India NRC, claiming that no discussions were held on the subject as
yet. Speaking at a rally in New Delhi, he assured that the Muslim community in India have nothing to fear
from either the CAA or NRC.68
Other prominent figures of the Central Government responded by equating
protesting against the CAA with criminalized or anti-national activity. At a rally in January 2020, the Home
Minister said, “I want to say it again that the government is not going back on the CAA. Those who want
to protest may continue doing so…if you chant slogans against Bharat Mata, I will put you behind bars.”69
The Finance Minister alleged that the protests were aimed at “undermining the elected government” and
“disturb(ing) the stability of the country”.70
Members of the ruling party vilified those protesting against the CAA through statements such
as one by the BJP President in West Bengal in which he called the protesters “parasites” and
62 Prithvi Iyer,“Analyzing global response to the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act”,ORF,26 December 2019: https://www.
orfonline.org/expert-speak/analyzing-global-response-to-the-controversial-citizenship-amendment-act-59529; USCIRF,“USCIRF
Raises Serious Concerns and Eyes Sanctions Recommendations for Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in India,Which Passed Lower
House Today”,UnitedStatesCommissiononInternationalReligiousFreedom,9 December 2019: https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/
press-releases-statements/uscirf-raises-serious-concerns-and-eyes-sanctions; PTI,“US commission seeks sanctions against Amit
Shah if citizenship bill passed”,HindustanTimes,10 December 2019: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/citizenship-bill-
is-dangerous-turn-says-us-commission-on-religious-freedom/story-HuYL7O7KQgyQ4qusZkHeEM.html.
63 Text of the European Parliament draft resolution on the CAA (“B9-007/2020”) can be accessed at https://www.europarl.europa.
eu/doceo/document/B-9-2020-0079_EN.html.
64 Harish Salve,“CAA is necessary: Why the many arguments about its being unconstitutional don’t hold water”,TheTimesofIndia,
5 March 2020: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/caa-is-necessary-why-the-many-arguments-about-its-
being-unconstitutional-dont-hold-water.
65 PTI,“154 prominent citizens write to President in support of CAA,NPR,NRC”,TheTimesofIndia,17 February 2020: https://
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/154-prominent-citizens-support-caa-npr-nrc-write-to-president/articleshow/74176834.cms.
66 Debayan Roy,“CAA is a‘benign’law,scope for judicial review is limited,Modi govt tells SC”,ThePrint,17 March 2021: https://
theprint.in/`/caa-is-a-benign-law-scope-for-judicial-review-is-limited-modi-govt-tells-sc/382501.
67 The Wire Staff,“Law Minister Contradicts Amit Shah,Says NPR Data‘May or May Not be Used’for NRC”,TheWire,29 December
2019: https://thewire.in/government/ravi-shankar-prasad-npr-nrc-data-caa.
68 Liz Mathew and Abhinav Rajput,“PM Narendra Modi: No talk of NRC at all,lies being spread about detention centres”,TheIndian
Express,23 December 2019: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/pm-narendra-modi-citizenship-amendment-law-nrc-bjp-
campaign-delhi-6179940.
69 The Wire Staff,“Centre Will Not Go Back on CAA,Those Protesting Can Continue: Amit Shah”,TheWire,21 January 2020: https://
thewire.in/government/amit-shah-citizenship-amendment-act-protests.
70 P Vaidyanathan Iyer and Raj Kumar Jha,“Nirmala Sitharaman interview:‘Fight us in House,attract smaller parties,keep us
under watch…but Cong moving further to fringe’”,TheIndianExpress,30 September 2020: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/
nirmala-sitharaman-indian-express-interview-covid-farm-bills-economy-gdp-6622513.
The Context:
Recasting Citizenship
23. 23
“devils”.71
While other party members distanced themselves from the statement, on January 12,
2020, the West Bengal BJP President said that “anti-CAA protesters were shot like dogs [by the
police] in BJP-ruled states”.72
Suresh Angadi, the late Union Minister of State for Railways, said,
“I have told the district administration and railway authorities concerned that if anybody destroys public
property, they can be shot at sight.”73
As of April 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs is still in the process of
framing Rules to the CAA.74
Conclusion
The CAA’s passing led to socio-political volatility across the country.There was a public outpouring of strong
sentiments against the law on the streets.Political parties and some State Governments also took measures
to express their opposition to the law. The CAA was perceived by the Muslim community and some other
sections of society as a tool to restrict citizenship on the basis of religious identity. Large sections of the
population were anxious about what the future would hold. There was a lack of a pre-legislative process,
coupled with absence of dialogue even when the law was met with unprecedented protests. With the
Supreme Court having left the question of legality of the CAA pending, the question itself took on a highly
fractious life of its own.
71 ANI,“Intellectuals opposing Citizenship Act are‘devils’,‘parasites’,says Dilip Ghosh”,TheNewIndianExpress,18 January 2020:
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/jan/18/intellectuals-opposing-citizenship-act-are-devils-parasites-says-dilip-
ghosh-2091213.html.
72 TNN,“CAA agitators‘shot like dogs’,says Dilip Ghosh,sparks row”,TheTimesofIndia,14 January 2020: https://timesofindia.
indiatimes.com/india/caa-agitators-shot-like-dogs-says-dilip-ghosh-sparks-row/articleshow/73236094.cms.
73 Jimmy Jacob,ed.,“Junior Railway Minister Says“Shoot At Sight”Amid Citizenship Law Protests”,NDTV,17 December 2019:
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/if-anyone-destroys-public-property-shoot-them-at-sight-union-minister-2150379.
74 The Wire Staff,“Union Home Ministry Asks for Another Six Months to Frame CAA Rules”,TheWire,9 April 2022: https://thewire.
in/government/union-home-ministry-asks-for-another-six-months-to-frame-caa-rules.
The Context:
Recasting Citizenship
24. 24
This chapter examines key developments in Delhi in the period that immediately preceded the outbreak
of violence in the North East District, that is from December 2019 to February 2020. These include the
rise of protests in Delhi against the CAA-NRC, responses of both political and non-political actors to these
protests, and the tenor of the campaigning in the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections. This chapter records
these developments and other possible drivers of the violence, and analyses if early signals of a distinctly
communal syntax emerged in this period.
ProtestsinDelhi
Multiple protests against the CAA-NRC began to take place in Delhi fromDecember 13, 2019. The city was
the site of continuous protests for a few months, of which the earliest were street marches.
EarlyProtestMarches
OnDecember13,2019,arallytotheParliamentwascalled,toopposethepassageoftheCAA-NRC.Hundreds
of students from Jamia University and residents of Jamia Nagar joined. Clashes were reported when the
police stopped the protesters at the University’s Gate No. 3 from advancing. The police reportedly used
force against the protesters, by beating them with lathis and using tear gas to disperse them. Protesters
also engaged in stone pelting. Around 60 students, dozens of police personnel, and many journalists
suffered injuries.Several students were detained and released after a few hours.75
Later,the University gates
were ordered shut. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation shut down Janpath and Patel Chowk Metro Stations
following a police advisory.The next day,Jamia University announced that semester exams were postponed.
On December 15, 2019, another protest march of over a thousand people, including students of Jamia
University and residents from Jamia Nagar, was on its way to Jantar Mantar. Police deployed tear gas to
disperse the crowd.76
Stones were thrown by some persons from the crowd, and two passenger buses and
some motorcycles were set ablaze near the University.77
Police personnel resorted to using their batons,
forcing the students to return to the campus. As per testimonies of Jamia University students and CCTV
video clips released later,the police entered the campus and,for over two hours vandalized the campus and
assaulted students.78
The police also hurled several rounds of tear gas shells inside the library and mosque
75 Sania Ahmad,“Citizenship Amendment Act protest: Delhi Police,protesters clash at Jamia”,IndiaToday,13 December 2019:
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/citizenship-amendment-bill-cab-protest-delhi-police-jamia-students-1628126-2019-12-13.
76 Sidharth Ravi,“Anti-Citizenship Act protests: violence hits Delhi,over 50 injured”,TheHindu,28 November 2021: https://
www.thehindu.com/news/national/police-enter-jamia-millia-islamia-campus-in-delhi-as-anti-citizenship-act-protest-turns-
violent/article30312133.ece; Sukrita Baruah and Sourav Roy Barman,“Jamia under siege,students are target”,TheIndianExpress,
16 December 2019: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/jamia-millia-islamia-university-under-siege-students-are-
target-6168896.
77 Ravi,28 November 2021,Note 76; Mirror Now,“Delhi: Anti-CAA protest turns violent as 3 buses burnt in Jamia Nagar”,Economic
Times,15 December 2019,https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/delhi-anti-caa-protesters-set-fire-on-
bbuses-jamia-millia-islamia-students-blamed/videoshow/72683068.cms.
78 Sruthisagar Yamunan,“Delhi Police were‘uncontrollable’as they unleashed violence at Jamia Millia Islamia,students say”,Scroll.
in,16 December 2019: https://scroll.in/article/946933/delhi-police-were-uncontrollable-as-they-unleashed-violence-at-jamia-
millia-islamia-students-say.Fact finding reports as well as media channels also reported that three shots were fired by the Delhi
Police during the crackdown,which was first denied by them.Subsequently videos emerged that showed Delhi Police firing the
shots.The police officials later stated that they would investigate the videos.Mahender Singh Manral,“Delhi Police denied it,but
internal probe finds 2 of their personnel fired during Jamia protests”,TheIndianExpress,5 January 2020:https://indianexpress.com/
article/india/citizenship-act-protest-jamia-university-delhi-police-firing-6200029.
2. Stoking Divisions: A Build-Up to
Violence in North East Delhi
25. 25
situated inside the campus. About 200 students were injured.79
Student testimonies recorded that the
police made pejorative, communal remarks like, “recite the kalmia” (last words), and “go to Pakistan”, while
rounding them up.80
On December 16, 2019, a protest against the CAA was organized by students of the Arts Faculty of Delhi
University. Protesters alleged that members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student
wing of the BJP, attacked them, while the Delhi Police either looked on or joined in. No action was initiated
even after videos of office bearers of the ABVP assaulting students surfaced on social media.81
On December 17, clashes broke out between the anti-CAA protesters and the police in North East Delhi’s
Seelampur-Jaffrabad area. The protests began at around 1 p.m., with the protesters marching from
Seelampur towards Jaffrabad. By the time the demonstration reached the Jaffrabad main road, it had close
to 3,000 people.82
Traffic was halted on the 66-Foot-Road from Seelampur to Jaffrabad. Violence reportedly
broke out when the police tried to disperse the protest march.Several motorcycles were torched,buses were
damaged,stoneswerepeltedatpolicepersonnel,andapoliceboothwasvandalized.83
Thepoliceresponded
with batons and fired tear gas shells on the crowd.84
21 people, including 12 policemen, were injured in the
violence.85
By December 19, the number of arrests made by the police in relation to the Seelampur protests
had reached 21.86
On December 20,a large crowd peacefully demonstrated against the CAA-NRC in the area around the Delhi
Gate. It was reported that a few people from within the gathering pelted stones at the police contingent.
The police responded with batons and water cannons.87
A car was set on fire in front of the office of Deputy
Commissioner of Police (DCP), Central Zone.88
46 people were injured and more than 40 people, including
someminors,weredetainedbythepolice.89
Itwasreportedthatlawyers,journalists,anddoctorswhoreached
Daryaganj following reports of violence, were not allowed to assist the injured, or those who needed legal
help.90
Lawyers were allowed to meet those detained only after the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Central
79 Express Web Desk,“Jamia V-C says police atrocities against students unacceptable,seeks high-level probe”,TheIndianExpress,
16 December 2019: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/jamia-millia-islamia-vice-chancellor-najma-akhtar-protests-
citizenship-law-6169636.
80 Campaign Against Witch-hunt of Anti-CAA Activists,2019,TheNightoftheBrokenGlass:TestimoniesfromJamiaMilliaIslamia,pg.
28,33,https://pdfcoffee.com/the-night-of-the-broken-glass-testimonies-from-jamia-millia-islamia-pdf-free.html.
81 Kabir Upmanyu,“Jamia Aftermath: Protests at DU,Students Allege Violence by ABVP”,TheQuint,16 December 2019: https://
www.thequint.com/news/education/delhi-university-students-protest-against-jamia-milia-violence-police-abvp; Aranya Shankar,
“ABVP in a bind as‘harassment’videos by members at Delhi University go viral”,TheIndianExpress,19 December 2019: https://
indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/abvp-in-a-bind-as-harassment-videos-by-members-go-viral-6173963.
82 Shemin Joy,“CAA: Protestors clash with police in Delhi’s Seelampur”,DeccanHerald,17 December 2019: https://www.
deccanherald.com/national/caa-protesters-clash-with-police-in-delhis-seelampur-786292.html.
83 Ed.by Deepshika Ghosh,“Violence in East Delhi Over Citizenship Act,Stones Thrown,Tear Gas: 10 Facts”,NDTV,17 December
2019,https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/police-lathicharge-crowd-fire-tear-gas-in-east-delhis-seelampur-during-citizenship-act-
protest-2150188.
84 Ghosh,17 December 2019,Note 83.
85 The Hindu Net Desk,“CAA protests updates | 21 people injured in Seelampur violence: police”,TheHindu,17 December
2019: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/citizenship-amendment-act-protest-hartal-live-updates-december-17-2019/
article30326650.ece; Arvind Ojha,“Anti-CAA stir: Violence returns to Delhi as Seelampur turns warzone”,IndiaToday,17 December
2019: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/seelampur-massive-protest-delhi-1629019-2019-12-17.
86 PTI,“12 More Arrests In Connection With Violence In Northeast Delhi”,NDTV,19 December 2019: https://www.ndtv.com/delhi-
news/12-more-arrests-in-connection-with-violence-in-northeast-delhi-2151231.
87 Karn Pratap Singh and Anonna Dutt,“3 minors among 50 detained,46 injured during CAA protests in Delhi”,Hindustan
Times,21 December 2019: https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/violent-clashes-in-daryaganj-leave-46-injured/story-
7u8U1s9DJiNZz6UacMDCbM.html.
88 India Today Web Desk,“8 minors among 40 detained after violence near Delhi Gate in Daryaganj”,IndiaToday,20 December
2019: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/delhi-gate-daryaganj-citizenship-amendment-act-protest-violence-car-fire-
police-1630163-2019-12-20.
89 Singh and Dutt,21 December 2019,Note 87.
90 The Wire Staff,“At Delhi Gate,Police Crackdown and Detention of Minors Triggered Large Protest”,TheWire, 20 December 2019:
https://thewire.in/rights/delhi-gate-daryanganj-police-water-cannons-lathis-caa-protest.
Stoking Divisions: A Build-Up
to Violence in North East Delhi
26. 26
Delhi) passed an Order at night, directing the Daryaganj Station House Officer to permit those detained to
meet their lawyers, ensure medical treatment to those injured, and release minors detained at the Police
Station, calling it a flagrant violation of law.91
ProtestSit-Ins
From late December 2019, sit-in protests became the predominant form of protest in Delhi. On December
15, a group of women began an indefinite sit-in, blocking a part of the Shaheen Bagh-Kalindi Kunj highway,
demanding scrapping of the CAA. Women from the predominantly Muslim neighborhood came in batches
to be at the site and participate in the sit-in protest.The protest site was also largely run and managed by the
local women.92
With passage of time, the Shaheen Bagh protest site became the epicenter of the anti-CAA
protests in Delhi.It saw a constant stream of visitors and supporters including intellectuals,artists,activists,
and other public figures.93
While the protesters occupied one side of a major highway with a concrete divider in the middle, the
organizersoftheprotestallegedthatthepoliceblockedtheothersideandseveralnearbyroads.94
Thepublic
inconvenience caused became a subject matter of litigation in the Supreme Court.95
As the Shaheen Bagh
protest gained prominence,the entire area was put under heavy police deployment.96
The protest continued
despite the violence in the district in February. The site was cleared on March 24, 2020, once the Covid-19
lockdown was imposed in Delhi.97
The Shaheen Bagh protest caught the imagination of the Muslim community and others opposed to the
CAA-NRC.NorthEastDelhiemergedasadistrictwhereseveralsit-inswereorganizedintheareasofBrijpuri,
Kardampuri, Bhajanpura, Noor-e-Ilahi, Chand Bagh and Jaffrabad.98
DemonstrationsagainsttheAnti-CAAProtests
As the protests against the CAA spread, demonstrations in favor of the citizenship amendment also
emerged.OnDecember17,2019,theABVPorganizedapro-CAArallyattheArtsFacultyofDelhiUniversity.99
On December 20,2019,Kapil Mishra,the BJP candidate from the Model Town constituency in the upcoming
91 Live Law News Network,“Anti-CAA Protests: Detention Of Minors In Police Station Illegal,Orders Magistrate In Delhi; Police
Asked To Allow Detainees To Meet Lawyers,Provide Medical Aid”,LiveLaw,21 December 2019: https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/
anti-caa-protests-detention-of-minors-in-police-station-illegal-orders-magistrate-in-delhi-daryaganj-lawyers-meet-150991.
92 Ziya Us Salam,“Shaheen Bagh protestors: Showing the way”,Frontline,24 April 2020: https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/
article31249472.ece; Express Web Desk,“Shaheen Bagh’s 101-day protest: Timeline of sit-in against CAA”,TheIndianExpress,24 March
2020: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/shaheen-bagh-protests-cleared-timeline-caa-delhi-coronavirus-6328911.
93 PTI,“Unfazed by cold,200 women stage sit-in at Shaheen Bagh,police seek to end protest”,IndiaToday,26 December 2019:
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/unfazed-by-cold-200-women-stage-sit-in-at-shaheen-bagh-police-seek-to-end-
protest-1631797-2019-12-26.
94 Legal Correspondent,“Police barricaded many roads with no link to Shaheen Bagh protests,says former CIC”,TheHindu,23
February 2020: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/police-barricaded-many-roads-with-no-link-to-shaheen-bagh-protests-
says-former-cic/article30895866.ece; Vijayta Lalwani,“The road that opened near Shaheen Bagh had been blocked by Delhi police,
not protestors”,Scroll.in,24 February 2020: https://scroll.in/article/954072/the-road-that-opened-near-shaheen-bagh-had-been-
blocked-by-delhi-police.
95 A.Vaidyanathan,““Cat Out Of Bag”: Top Court To Hear Shaheen Bagh Case After Delhi Polls”,NDTV,7 February 2020: https://
www.ndtv.com/india-news/petition-to-remove-shaheen-bagh-protesters-to-be-heard-on-monday-after-delhi-election-says-
supreme-c-2176390; also see AmitSahni(ShaheenBagh,InRe)v.State,(2020) 10 SCC 439.
96 HT Correspondent,“Delhi Police deploy large force in Shaheen Bagh as precautionary measure”,HindustanTimes,1 March
2020: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/security-increased-section-144-imposed-in-shaheen-bagh/story-
hkekaXND50CrL5ZrgT35SL.html.
97 Express Web Desk,24 March 2020,Note 92.
98 Ronak Chhabra,“In Photos: Shaheen Bagh Is Everywhere”,Newsclick,21 January 2020: https://www.newsclick.in/In-Photos-
Shaheen-Bagh-Everywhere; IANS,“Delhi: Anti-CAA protests going on in over 20 areas”,LokmatTimes,3 February 2020: https://www.
lokmattimes.com/national/delhi-anti-caa-protests-going-on-in-over-20-areas.
99 Staff Reporter,“CAA protests: Delhi University students express solidarity”,TheHindu,17 December 2019: https://www.thehindu.
com/news/cities/Delhi/caa-protests-delhi-university-students-express-solidarity/article30332375.ece.
Stoking Divisions: A Build-Up
to Violence in North East Delhi
27. 27
Assembly elections in Delhi, led a march in central Delhi’s Connaught Place shouting, “desh ke gaddaron ko,
goli maaro saalon ko”(shoot the traitors).100
Two days later, on December 22, Anupam Pandey, BJP President for Sonia Vihar Ward in North East Delhi,
went live on Facebook, leading a march shouting the same slogan “desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko”
(shoot the traitors).101
On December 24, 2019, Kapil Mishra filmed himself live from Karawal Nagar, in North East Delhi, where he
admonished the public for not resisting the anti-CAA protests and said,“Is your conscience dead?”He asked,
“will your eyes open up when the fire has reached your homes?” He then referred to the anti-CAA protesters,
“Don’t mistake Karawal Nagar for Seelampur or Jamia…from here on,if a crowd gives any slogans,then it will
get the answer in a language which we have learnt from our parents.”102
Another rally was organized on December 25, 2019, at Jantar Mantar, by an organization called Vishwa
Sanatan Sangh. Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, a prominent Hindutva leader in West UP and Delhi, gave a
speech from the stage and later interacted with journalists, making the following comments:
I appeal to all you young people, these Muslims who keep coming out [on the streets] they should
know what will happen to them the day we come out. And I would like to tell Narendra Modi
and Amit Shah, please don’t worry, we are all with you. You have brought the CAA, now bring the
National Register of Citizens and after that put a stop to the population of these katuas. If these
swineincreasetheirnumbers,theywillspreadfilth,sotosavethiscountryfromfilthanddirt,please
bring a law to stop their population, we will support you. And all of you, you fighters for dharma,
each one of you lions is more than enough for 1,25,000 pigs.And if [the Muslims] are seeing dreams
of taking over India, then tell them that we will gouge their eyes out. This country was ours, is ours
and will remain ours.
…Those we call Muslims in our current era were called demons in earlier eras.
…I am once again appealing to Hindus, today the time has come, if even today you don’t stand up
then you won’t survive. I want to tell Hindus that this is the final battle, if you lose this battle then
nothing will remain.
These people [Anti CAA Protesters] are enemies of this country, they should be put in jail. And if
they do not reform even after being jailed, they should be sentenced to death. These people [the
Muslims] are jihadis who want to spread filth in the country, these are jihadis who want to destroy
the country, these are jihadis who want to take over our resources, these are jihadis who want to
kill us all, these are jihadis who want to make prostitutes of our sisters and daughters. Such people
have to be destroyed from their roots and this is our basic religious duty...After partition, the jihadis
Gandhi and Nehru kept these traitors in the country. This is India’s biggest misfortune. It was not
their choice,it was our weakness,we should have driven them out...Hindus will have to understand,
these are not our people, they are jihadis and we will have to finish them off, this is our religion, this
is patriotism.
The whole world has seen what China is doing with the Muslims. The President of China has said
Islam is a mental illness and that we won’t let our country fall prey to this disease. Our country will
save itself by following China’s pattern. There is no other way.103
100 Scroll Staff,“‘Goli maaro saalo ko’: BJP’s Kapil Mishra posts video of his‘peaceful’march supporting the CAA”,Scroll.in,21
December 2019: https://scroll.in/video/947491/goli-maaro-saalo-ko-bjps-kapil-mishra-posts-video-of-his-peaceful-march-
supporting-the-caa.
101 Sagar,“Delhi Violence Unmasked | Part One”,TheCaravan,1 March 2021: https://caravanmagazine.in/politics/part-one-how-rss-
bjp-members-invoked-hindu-identity-to-mobilise-hindutva-mobs-at-maujpur.
102 Sagar,“Delhi Violence Unmasked | Part Three”,TheCaravan,1 March 2021: https://caravanmagazine.in/politics/how-bjp-and-
youth-wing-bjym-used-delhi-elections-to-mobilise-hindutva-mobs.
103 The Wire Staff,“Delhi 2020 | The Real Conspiracy,Episode 2: The Anti-Muslim Cleric Who Called for Final War”,TheWire,3
March 2021: https://thewire.in/communalism/delhi-riots-2020-the-real-conspiracy-episode-2.
Stoking Divisions: A Build-Up
to Violence in North East Delhi
28. 28
HateasaDriverofConflict
In context of these developments, several factors signal growing tensions. The pro-CAA demonstrations
based themselves on slogans that could be seen as inciting violence in calling for shooting bullets while
branding anti-CAA protesters as “traitors”, “terrorists”, “rioters”, and “jihadis”.104
The speeches of political and
Hindu nationalists characterized the anti-CAA protesters as being predominantly Muslim, equating Indian
Muslims protesting against the CAA with enemies and violent trouble makers.105
The police response to the two groups was inconsistent. The first few days of the protests against the CAA
saw police action and use of force directed against protesters and protest sites. This ranged from the denial
of permissions to organize protests,106
allegations of police firing,107
assaults and beatings,108
and vandalism
of a university campus.109
Prohibitory measures such as Section 144, CrPC were repeatedly imposed to stop
anti-CAA protesters from gathering.110
Internet shutdowns were also reported from parts of Delhi,111
and
limits were placed on public transportation to prevent people from congregating at the protest sites.112
It
is of note here that the Supreme Court has held that the “power under Section 144, CrPC cannot be used to
suppress legitimate expression of opinion or grievance or exercise of any democratic rights.”113
The Delhi Police, however, did not interfere with demonstrators or ruling party leaders in support of the
CAA, even as many of these demonstrations based themselves on slogans which advocated violence.
The tone and spread of these slogans indicate the sharp rise in hateful content by this time. Sections 153A
and 153B of the IPC are regarded as the legal provisions that criminalize hate speech.While these provisions
do not use the term hate speech, they go some way towards prohibiting speech that prejudicially targets a
group or community on the basis of a marker of identity. For instance, Section 153A, IPC prohibits words or
other actions that promote enmity and disharmony between different groups on several grounds.
104 Akshita Jain,“Pro-CAA Rallies Trigger Widespread Anger With Incendiary Slogans”,HuffingtonPost,23 December 2019: https://
www.huffpost.com/archive/in/entry/anger-slogans-pro-citizenship-amendment-act-rallies_in_5e005f3ae4b05b08bab79f4f.
105 The Wire Staff,3 March 2021,Note 103.
106 PTI,“Delhi Police Denies Permission to AISA,Swaraj Abhiyan for Anti-CAA March in Delhi”,News18,18 December 2019: https://
www.news18.com/news/india/delhi-police-denies-permission-to-aisa-swaraj-abhiyan-for-anti-caa-march-in-delhi-2428879.html.
107 Rohini Chatterji,“Did Delhi Police Fire At Jamia Millia Islamia Students? A New Video Suggests So”,HuffingtonPost,
18 December 2019: https://www.huffpost.com/archive/in/entry/caa-delhi-police-firing-jamia-millia-islamia-students_
in_5dfaeb09e4b01834791b1e58.
108 Haley Willis and Caroline Kim,“India’s Police Response to Protests was Swift and Violent,Videos Show”,TheNewYorkTimes,17
December 2019: https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000006877279/india-protests-police.html.
109 Willis and Kim,17 December 2019,Note 108; Newsroom,“CCTV Video From Jamia Millia Islamia Appears To Show Cops
Assaulting Students In Library”, HuffingtonPost,16 February 2020:https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/cctv-video-from-jamia-
millia-islamia-appears-to-show-cops-assaulting-students-in-library_in_5e48dfe0c5b64433c6177647.
110 Soutik Biswas,“Citizenship Act protests: How a colonial-era law is being used in India”,BBC, 20 December 2019:https://www.
bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-50849909.
111 Ankit Lal,“When The Internet Was Cut Off In Delhi During CAA Protests”,NDTV,19 December 2019: https://www.ndtv.com/
opinion/when-the-internet-was-cut-off-in-delhi-during-caa-protests-2151464.
112 TNN,“Delhi: 19 metro stations shut,commuters suffer”,TheTimesofIndia,21 December 2019: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.
com/city/delhi/delhi-19-metro-stations-shut-commuters-suffer/articleshow/72910880.cms.
113 AnuradhaBhasinv.UnionofIndia,(2020) 3 SCC 637,paras 126,148.2.
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SelectedtextofSection153A,IPC
153A. Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of
birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.—
(1) Whoever—
(a) by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or
otherwise, promotes or attempts to promote, on grounds of religion, race, place of
birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever,
disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different reli
gious, racial,
language or regional groups or castes or communities, or
(b) commits any act which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between
different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, and
which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquillity, or
(c) organizes any exercise, movement, drill or other similar activity intending that the
participants in such activity shall use or be trained to use criminal force or violence or
knowing it to be likely that the participants in such activity will use or be trained to use
criminal force or violence,or participates in such activity intending to use or be trained
to use criminal force or violence or knowing it to be likely that the participants in such
activity will use or be trained to use criminal force or violence, against any religious,
racial, language or regional group or caste or community and such activity for any
reason whatsoever causes or is likely to cause fear or alarm or a feeling of insecurity
amongst members of such religious, racial, language or regional group or caste or
community,] shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years,
or with fine, or with both. Offence committed in place of worship, etc.—
(2) Whoever commits an offence specified in sub-section (1) in any place of worship or in
any assembly engaged in the performance of religious worship or religious ceremonies,
shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to five years and shall also be
liable to fine.
The words used in these speeches and demonstrations appear to be meeting the ingredients set out in
Section 153A (a) and (b) as “spoken words” attempting to promote, on grounds of religion and community,
disharmony between Hindus and Muslims, likely to disturb public tranquility. Additionally, the slogans
introduced by political and other leaders were being widely adopted and spread by people on the ground.
Yet, no criminal complaints were registered by the Delhi Police.
DelhiElections2020:TenorofCampaigning
On January 6, 2020, the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the elections to the
State Legislative Assembly of Delhi. The elections were scheduled to be held on February 8, 2020, and the
results were to be declared on February 11.114
The provisions of the Model Code of Conduct for the Guidance
of Political Parties and Candidates (MCC) issued by the Election Commission, came into force when the
elections were announced.115
114 Schedule of General Election to the Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi,2020: https://eci.gov.in/files/file/11567-schedule-of-
general-election-to-the-legislative-assembly-of-nct-of-delhi-2020.
115 Election Commission of India,Circular No.437/6/1/ECI/INST/FUNCT/MCC/2020,ImmediateActiontobetakenforenforcementof
ModelCodeofConduct,6 January 2020: https://eci.gov.in/files/file/11575-immediate-action-to-be-taken-for-enforcement-of-model-
code-of-conduct.
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30. 30
The MCC is a set of principles and guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India.116
It prohibits
political parties and candidates from “appealing to caste or communal feelings for securing votes” and
indulging in any activity that may “aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension
between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic”.117
Similar provisions are found in the
Representation of the People Act, 1951.118
CampaignSpeechesandStatements
The contest over the CAA-NRC leveraged significant attention as part of the election campaign in Delhi. On
January 7,2020,the BJP announced to its cadres in district level meetings that mobilizing people in support
of the CAA was a key part of the election agenda for the party.119
On December 31, 2019, Anupam Pandey, President of the BJP’s Sonia Vihar Mandal, a ward in North East
Delhi, addressed a rally in which he called the anti-CAA protesters “deshdrohis” (traitors to the nation). In
a livestream of the rally, Pandey can be heard telling the crowd, “I want to tell you something: if there is
anyone who talks for Hindus it is only the BJP…If the next chief minister is from BJP, then these traitors who
are sitting on roads, the ones burning buses, we would at least get rid of them.”120
On January 22, 2020, Manoj Kashyap, the BJP candidate from Shahjahanpur constituency in UP, referred to
the protests in an election rally,saying,“When such situation is being created this way,the true sons of India
must stand up...The brave men of India have to stand.The patriotic warriors of India have to stand.The ones
who can protect their mothers and sisters can certainly be ready like Hanuman to burn somebody else’s
Lanka.”121
On January 23, 2020, Kapil Mishra posted the following tweets:
g India vs.Pakistan,8th
February,Delhi.8 February ko Dilli ki sadko par Hindustan aur Pakistan
mukabla hoga.122
(India versus Pakistan, 8 February, Delhi. On 8 February, there will be a contest between Hindustan
and Pakistan on the streets of Delhi.)
g Delhi mein chhote chhote Pakistan bane.123
(Small Pakistans have come up in Delhi.)
g Shaheen Bagh mein Pak ki entry.124
(Pakistan’s entry in Shaheen Bagh.)
g AAP aur Congress ne Shaheen Bagh jaise mini-Pakistan khade kiye hai,jawab mein 8 February ko
Hindustan khada hoga.Jab jab deshdrohi bharat mein Pakistan khada karenge tab tab desh bhakton ka
Hindustan khada hoga.125
(AAP and Congress have supported Shaheen Bagh like mini-Pakistans, in response Hindustan
will rise on 8 February. Whenever traitors will give rise to Pakistans in Bharat, alongside patriots’
Hindustan will rise.)
116 View the MCC at this link: https://eci.gov.in/mcc.
117 Rules 1(1) and 1(3),General Conduct,Model Code of Conduct for the Guidance of Political Parties and Candidates.
118 Section 123(3A),the Representation of the People Act,1951prohibits activities by candidates that promote feelings of enmity
and hatred between citizens on grounds of religion,race,caste,community or language.Section 125 of the Act makes it an offence
punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years,or with fine,or both.
119 Abhinav Rajput,“BJP to fight Delhi polls on Modi name,CAA agenda”,TheIndianExpress, 6 January 2020: https://indianexpress.
com/article/india/bjp-to-fight-delhi-polls-on-modi-name-caa-agenda-6201481.
120 Sagar,1 March 2021,Note 102.
121 Sagar,1 March 2021,Note 102.
122 Kapil Mishra,https://mobile.twitter.com/KapilMishra_IND/status/1220213605359992833,23 January 2020.
123 This tweet was taken down,the link is unavailable.
124 Kapil Mishra,https://twitter.com/KapilMishra_IND/status/1220237373532848128,23 January 2020.
125 Kapil Mishra,https://twitter.com/KapilMishra_IND/status/1220275695399526401,23 January 2020.
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