New Delhi police failed to protect Muslims in Feb. riots: Minority Commission report
At least 53 people, mostly Muslims, were killed and more than 200 were injured in the worst communal violence in the Indian capital for decades.
The clashes erupted amid an outcry over a new law laying out the path to citizenship for six religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. Critics said the law was discriminatory and flouted India's secular constitution.
The Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) said Muslim homes, shops and vehicles were selectively targeted during the rioting that erupted in northeast Delhi in February when protests against the new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) broke out across the country.
In all, 11 mosques, five madrasas or religious schools, a Muslim shrine and a graveyard were attacked and damaged, a team from the commission said in the report released on Thursday.
Recommendations made in the commission's report to safeguard minority rights are not binding.
"Seemingly, to crush the protests, with support of the administration and police, a retaliatory plan of pro-CAA protesters was worked out to trigger violence at a large scale," it said.
The commission said police had charged Muslims for the violence even though they were the worst victims.
Delhi police spokesman Anil Mittal rejected the allegation of bias and said police had acted fairly.
The New York Times in a report earlier this year said that the Indian police had directly engaged in violence against Muslims and actively helped Hindu mobs during anti-Muslim violence in New Delhi, in February.
parstoday.com
