New Delhi, Jan 5 (UNI) The ruling BJP on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision rejecting the bail pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, saying the ruling clearly establishes the serious and planned nature of the 2020 Delhi riots.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, party national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the Supreme Court has held that the charges against Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam are, prima facie, linked to terrorism and the Delhi riots and appear to be correct.
He noted that the Court observed the case is not an ordinary crime but a grave offence, comparable to attempts to break the country, and must be viewed from the perspective of national security.
Poonawalla said the apex court also made it clear that the violence in Delhi was neither accidental nor coincidental, but deliberate and well-planned. He added that the ruling has caused discomfort among what he described as the “Tukde-Tukde gang” and its supporters, both within the country and abroad, who had been expressing sympathy for the accused.
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the riots were part of a larger pattern seen in several countries, where attempts are made for violent transfer of power, and claimed that parties such as the Congress and the Samajwadi Party have either openly or indirectly supported such tendencies.
He accused the opposition ecosystem of promoting what he termed an anti-Hindu mindset and vote-bank politics, and of glorifying historical invaders and extremist elements.
Poonawalla further alleged that the same political ecosystem has, at different times, expressed sympathy for convicted terrorists and extremists, including Afzal Guru, Yakub Memon, those killed in the Batla House encounter, and Naxalites, and is now extending support to Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid.
Raising questions for opposition parties, Poonawalla asked whether the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party would apologise to the families of Ankit Sharma, Ratan Lal and Dilbar Negi, who were killed during the Delhi riots, in light of the Supreme Court’s clear observations.
He also referred to the case of Tahir Hussain, from whose residence petrol bombs and other materials were allegedly recovered, and said Hussain was associated with the Aam Aadmi Party.
Poonawalla questioned whether, in the past, such elements were given protection on the basis of what he described as the ‘M factor’.
The BJP reiterated that the Supreme Court’s decision reinforces the seriousness of the charges in the Delhi riots case and underlines the need to view such incidents through the lens of national security, Poonawalla added.
