Speakers at meet blame BJP leaders for Delhi riots
Mumbai: Representatives of various communities on Thursday blamed a clutch of BJP leaders, including Union minister Anurag Thakur, for the communal riots in Delhi where 34 people have died till now.
They gathered here to condemn the communal violence in the national capital over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and seek action against the culprits.
The representatives, who announced formation of an alliance against CAA-NRC-NPR, said besides Thakur, Delhi BJP leaders like Kapil Mishra and Parvesh Verma were responsible for the mayhem.
All three BJP leaders have been accused of giving hate speeches.
The Delhi police failed in their task of controlling the riots and remained a mute spectator when armed gangs were killing people and setting properties on fire, speakers at the meeting said.
Advocate Rakesh Rathod, a representative of the Vanjara community, said, "The people of Delhi ignored hate and voted for the Aam Aadmi Party in the name of development (in just held polls).
"The Sangh parivar could not accept this and as a result Delhi is burning in the fire of hate. We demand that top police officials be suspended and tried in court."
Sachin Kamble of the Sambhaji Brigade, a Maratha organisation, demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the wake of the Delhi riots.
"The campaign against CAA-NRC-NPR did not cause any harm to anybody. But as soon as pro-CAA agitations began, they resulted in riots in Delhi.
"The country is being run on the RSS's Constitution of 'Manu Smriti'. We condemn the attack on religious places," Kamble said.
Islamic scholar Maulana Ejaz Kashmiri said, "The Delhi riots are a form of terrorism and rioters are terrorists. If the country is to develop, riots need to end.
Ravi Kumar Stephen, a Christian priest, expressed solidarity with the riot victims.
"We stand with the victims of the Delhi violence. We condemn this violence. The attack on places of worship and properties of minorities is tragic," Stephen said.
After the event, a delegation met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and presented him a memorandum containing a list of demands.
The demands included immediate arrest and prosecution of Thakur, Verma and Mishra.
"Action should be taken against the errant police personnel, who, instead of performing their duties, either remained silent spectators or appeared to be helping the rioters. Curfew should be imposed in areas where violence is still on," according to the memorandum.
The police should take action against lawbreakers and perpetrators of the violence, irrespective of their religious and political affiliations, it said, adding a high-level judicial inquiry should be ordered into the riots.
Police protection should be provided to all anti-CAA protests, especially the Shaheen Bagh agitation in Delhi, the memorandum said.
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Hamas accepts cease-fire proposal for Gaza, but Israel's stance still uncertain
Jerusalem, May 6: Hamas announced Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but there was no immediate word from Israel, leaving it uncertain whether a deal had been sealed to bring a halt to the seven-month-long war in Gaza.
It was the first glimmer of hope that a deal might avert further bloodshed. Hours earlier, Israel ordered some 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating the southern Gaza town of Rafah, signalling that an attack was imminent. The United States and other key allies of Israel oppose an offensive on Rafah, where around 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of Gaza's population, are sheltering.
An official familiar with Israeli thinking said Israeli officials were examining the proposal, but the plan approved by Hamas was not the framework Israel proposed.
An American official also said the US was still waiting to learn more about the Hamas position and whether it reflected an agreement to what had already been signed off on by Israel and international negotiators or something else. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as a stance was still being formulated.
Details of the proposal have not been released. Touring the region last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had pressed Hamas to take the deal, and Egyptian officials said it called for a cease-fire of multiple stages starting with a limited hostage release and some Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza. The two sides would also negotiate a “permanent calm” that would lead to a full hostage release and greater Israeli withdrawal, they said.
