NEW DELHI: AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Sunday accused the BJP of practising “cheap” politics for blaming it to be behind the violence in South East Delhi during protests against the amended Citizenship Act.
“Whenever the BJP realises it is going to lose (in polls), it indulges in such cheap political tactics. The law and order situation in Delhi has been deteriorating ever since Amit Shah became the Home Minister. He should resign from his post,” said Singh.
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Earlier in the day, BJP’s state unit chief Manoj Tiwari, in a tweet, alleged that Sunday’s violence was perpetrated by an AAP MLA who was “provoking” the people. “The Muslim of India is with India and is not going to be influenced by traitors like you. The people of Delhi will teach AAP traitors a lesson. The sin of AAP is being exposed,” he tweeted in Hindi.
Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan, who is apparently the MLA mentioned but not named by Tiwari, denied the BJP’s allegations.
“Some TV channels have run the news that protesters under my leadership have torched buses which is wrong. There are no reports of arson or violence at the spots where I was present. SHO Shaheen bagh along with other police personnel were present during the gatherings. The area was under CCTV surveillance,” he told reporters.’
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BJP leader Kapil Mishra likened the violence to the Godhra attacks and accused the AAP government of being behind it. “This is a terrorist attack. This fire was started by Amanatullah Khan. They are readying to repeat Godhra incident in Delhi,” he said.
Deputy CM Manish Sisodia alleged that buses were torched under the supervision of the police. “At whose behest was this done?” he said while tweeting pictures of broken buses.
BBC scribe alleges assault
Bushra Sheikh, a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) journalist, claimed that she was harassed by police personnel while she covered the protests in South East Delhi on Sunday. “I came here for BBC’s coverage, they (police) took away my phone, broke it.
A male police personnel pulled my hair. They hit me with a baton and when I asked them for my phone they hurled abuses at me. I didn’t come here for fun, I came here for coverage,” she said.