NEW DELHI: The 17,000-page charge sheet filed by Delhi Police reveals how short filmmakers Rahul Roy and Saba Dewan played a crucial role in organising meetings of different groups and how they were completely in know-how about the North East Delhi communal riots.
Messages exchanged on a WhatsApp group named as DPSG (Delhi Protest Support Group) reveals how Roy and Dewan were actively involved in mobilising students and other groups at various protest sites in the national capital.
As per the WhatsApp chats, a meeting was called by Roy with various organisations and prominent individuals, who were against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, at the Indian Social Institute on December 26. There they discussed plans for organising women-led protests in Muslim-majority areas.
A message on January 19 from Rahul Roy asked team members to meet and stated, “Folks we need to meet soon. There are several crises and plans that we need to address collectively.
Two important dates are coming up 26 and 30 and we need to hear various plans and we need to decide how to push these. We are also facing a crisis about speakers, artists, performers for the new sit-ins.”
Following this, Saba Dewan posted a record of discussions that happened at the meeting dated December 26, 2019, and according to the WhatsApp message, “This meeting is being called only to facilitate the ongoing mobilisations in which students ought to continue occupying a dominant space.
It would be useful to plan a large student rally of nearly 100 universities in Delhi within the next one month.” On September 14, the Delhi Police summoned both Rahul Roy and Saba Dewan in connection with an FIR. Roy had also been named in the supplementary charge sheet filed by the police on September 12 in another FIR, which relates to the Jafrabad roadblock case.
Another message from Roy on February 13, states, “Have been thinking of this for the past couple of days and was just discussing it with Apoorvanand. This speaker and artists based process at protest sites is now becoming unsustainable. We need to think of something else that involves everyone doing some constructive, collaborative and community activity.
This needs to take a new turn and re-energise itself and also find a new direction. Please think.” On February 24, another message reads, “I have noticed that messages written here are being shared on other WhatsApp groups. Kindly refrain from doing so. This is not a general information sharing group. People who have forwarded messages from here should kindly delete them. And as a moderator, I will remove you from the group if you forward messages that are part of discussions within this group.”
Messages reveal role
Messages exchanged on a WhatsApp group reveals how Roy and Dewan were actively involved in mobilising students.