A First-Hand Account of the Flare-up in Violence in Delhi’s Maujpur

I left from office in South Delhi at 2.45 in the afternoon for Maujpur area of Northeast Delhi after videos surfaced on the social media of violence allegedly unleashed by the Right-wing mobs. I have been covering the anti-CAA protests across Delhi, which have been peaceful, so reports of violence since Sunday were disturbing.

At Jama Masjid, from where I took an auto rickshaw to visit Maujpur chowk, I was cautioned by the driver, a Muslim, that the Maujpur neighbourhood, along with other parts of Northeast Delhi, was tense and it was not safe to go there right now.

“They are beating individuals and burning vehicles. It is very dangerous right now to go to that part of the city,” he said.

This was the first interaction that gave me a hint of the situation taking a communal colour, a day after BJP leader Kapil Mishra took out a procession, chanted religious slogans and gave an ultimatum to the Delhi Police to clear the peaceful anti-CAA-NRC-NPR sit-in protests, mainly led by women in various areas of Delhi.

I reached the Jafrabad Metro Station at 3.45 p.m. One side of the Jafrabad-Seelampur arterial road was blocked – since late Saturday night – by hundreds of women protesters. Though the traffic was allowed to move on the other side, the auto driver refused to go any further. He and I, both saw plumes of smoke billowing out from a neighbourhood that was hardly a kilometre away from the site of the women-led peaceful protest in Jafrabad.

The horror that I was warned about earlier was right in front of my eyes.

I got down and started walking, speaking to a few eyewitnesses on the way. Some of them narrated how things unfolded in the morning. They said that pro-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protesters had gathered in the morning and had provoked them by pelting stones at them, allegedly in a bid to trigger violence. Soon, shops and vehicles were torched by them in the lanes of Maujpur, one of the eyewitnesses told me, adding that videos of this were now being posted on social media.

At this point, it is important to mention that the events had unfolded a day earlier. The pro-CAA protesters, who had assembled following a call by BJP’s Kapil Mishra, were demonstrating near the Maujpur signal. They were surrounded on both the sides by the police personnel, at least till late Sunday night, to prevent any clash between them and the rival anti-CAA protesters. I could sense tension in the air.

On Monday afternoon, as I moved forward on the same road, I witnessed, to my surprise, that the centre of violence was much closer to the site of the peaceful protest from where constant attempts, through announcements and volunteers, were being made, appealing for peace and not falling for violence. Soon, fear gripped the area as sounds of shots being fired could be heard. People started running here and there.

I saw stones being hurled from both the ends of the road – where anti- and pro-CAA protesters had assembled. This is where I first encountered violence. I saw faces of youths filled with rage. In front of them were the police personnel who fired rounds of tear gas shells, one of which landed next to me, causing irritation in my eyes.

“You must go back. This is not a safe place for you. The police is here to kill us today,” one of the anti-CAA protesters told me.

I stood on the side of the road, showing my press card to them, trying to explain to them that I was just doing my job.

Just then, in an attempt to collect some footage of the violence, I took out my phone. This act of mine spooked the protesters, who feared that their actions were being recorded. This was the same reaction I had received the earlier night from pro-CAA supporters.

Before I could realise what was happening, I was surrounded by around 20-25 people, who started beating me. Their anger was against the media. I could hear them say, “They won’t show how the saffron flag bearers rampaged through our lanes.” “We don’t trust the media…”

I realised that the anger was against mainstream media, popularly known as the Godi Media, and they thought I was one of them.

While I was being attacked, two persons in the group came forward and saved me. Since I kept telling them that I was not from mainstream media and shouted out the name of my organisation, these two persons seemed to have been familiar with NewsClick’s name and its coverage of the anti-CAA protests erupting across the country.

By the time I was rescued by these two men, I was drenched in blood. “Nothing will happen to you. We will get you treatment,” one of them assured me.

We crossed the team of the police. I could see stones and bricks strewn on the entire road. We reached near Maujpur Chowk and entered a lane filled with men, visibly Muslims. Their eyes were red with tear gas smoke. My rescuer, Faizan (name changed) informed them that I was a journalist and needed medical treatment.

At this point, the crowd made space for me. They gave me water. All the shops in the lane were shuttered down. Later, I was informed that there was a police confrontation in the lane and tear gas shell was fired at them.

I was taken to a clinic where I was treated. I had received a head injury. While I was being medically treated by Shoeb (name changed), a compounder, I could hear sounds of firing and people running around. I got two stitches on my head. All this while Faizan made sure that I was provided good care and even helped in making calls, informing my colleagues about the incident.

Faizan, a pharmacist by profession, later blamed right-wing group members for the violence that had erupted. “We have been protesting since more than a month in a peaceful manner. We don’t want violence. We just wanted our voices to be heard.” he said.

As things calmed down a bit, he made sure that I reached Jafrabad, not far away from the site of violence, from where I could get a vehicle back.

Also read: CAA Violence: Death Toll Climbs to 7, Northeast Delhi Simmers