Who Failed Delhi?

The state, the police, the home ministry and the political leadership—they all were culpable for the worst riots the national capital has seen in 35 years

- Sonali Acharjee, Shwweta Punj, Kaushik Deka, Uday Mahurkar, Ajit Kumar Jha And Gulam Jeelani

The writing had been on the wall. At least on the one-kilometre-long wall that separates the warren of galis from the sewage canal that runs through the Jafrabad area of Northeast Delhi. Nineteen pieces of anti-CAA and anti-NRC graffiti are sprayed on that white facade. But the administration failed to see it. All it took was for someone to fling a stone, and the area erupted in a conflagration that lasted four days beginning February 23. There are enough indications to suggest the riots were not spontaneous. There were Molotov cocktails, stockpiles of stones and handguns. Twenty-two of the 49 victims were shot dead and nearly 200 people sustained gunshot injuries. Yet, all the law enforcement agencies and the political class could do was point fingers at each other even as the current spate of Hindu-Muslim riots became the worst the national capital has seen in 70 years. The question, then, bears repetition: who let Delhi down?

FAILURE #1

WHY WAS THE WARNING THAT NORTHEAST DELHI IS A TINDERBOX IGNORED?