‘Communal virus has spread in Delhi’: Kapil Sibal attacks BJP in Rajya Sabha

Kapil Sibal also said the Delhi riots were orchestated. (Photo: IANS)


Congress leader Kapil Sibal in Rajya Sabha launched an attack on the BJP government and questioned Union Home Minister about why FIRs have not been registered against those who delivered hate speeches that allegedly incited violence in Delhi.

Taking a dig at the BJP’s stance on cow protection, he said, “You can do anything to protect cows, can’t you do anything to protect the lives of human beings? Do we need to bring another Article to ensure the protection of human beings?”

Sibal also said the Delhi riots were orchestrated. “Just as the celebrations to welcome Donald Trump were orchestrated, the Delhi riots were also orchestrated,” he said in the Upper House.

The minister referred to the communal clashes in the country to the deadly coronavirus and said, “There are two types of viruses in the world right now. One is a coronavirus and the other is a communal virus. When the communal virus was spreading, who were the collaborators.”

In his speech, he also raised the incident of the man who was forced to sing the National Anthem and later succumbed to his injuries.

“Everyone knew what was happening, the Delhi police knew nothing,” he said.

Yesterday, in Lok Sabha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah praised the Delhi police for handling the situation when clashes broke out in northeast Delhi last month.

He had said, the violence was confined to 4 per cent of the city’s area, 13 per cent of its population and ended within 36 hours.

Amit Shah asserted that the Delhi Police have identified as many as 1100 people who participated in the riots by the use of face-recognition software. He further claimed that out of these, 300 came from Uttar Pradesh.

“I would like to place on record that after 25th February, no incident of rioting took place. There have been attempts to politicize these riots,” he said.

“MPs raised doubts about what the police were doing. It is the opposition’s right to question. But when the police were trying to control the riots, struggling with violence, we should understand,” he added.