Tue 03 March 2020:
The sequence of events that led to Faizan’s death suggests some members of the Delhi Police actively participated in the communal riots.
Faizan, the 23-year-old Muslim man who was filmed as he was brutally assaulted by policemen who forced him to sing the national anthem between beatings, died after the Delhi Police illegally detained him for over 36 hours and denied him urgent medical attention.
When the protector turns perpetrator, where do we go?!
Shame on @DelhiPolice for disrespecting the value of human life. Is this how the Delhi Police fulfills its Constitutional duty to show respect to our National Anthem?
(Maujpur, 24 Feb)#ShameOnDelhiPolice #DelhiBurning pic.twitter.com/QVaxpfNyp5— Shaheen Bagh Official (@Shaheenbaghoff1) February 25, 2020
Since news of Faizan’s death was made public on February 28, the Delhi Police has sought to deflect responsibility by claiming they never took Faizan into custody.
Eye-witnesses policemen, , doctors, legal volunteers and Faizan’s family members who contradicted the police account, and established that Faizan’s untimely and violent demise was a direct consequence of police actions over a three-day period from February 24, when Faizan was first assaulted, to February 26, when he finally succumbed to his many injuries at 11 pm.
“For two days, he clamoured for aid locked up inside and they did not let him go,” said Faizan’s sister Sonam.
Faizan’s family members receive his body at his home in Kardampuri on 29 February.
“His body had turned blue all over when they released him,” Kismatun, Faizan’s 61-year-old mother, said. “He had stitches on his ear and on his head. The policemen had hit him, putting a baton inside his throat. He was in so much pain that he could not even gulp liquids such as water or milk when we got back home.”
Another young man, assaulted and humiliated by the police in the same incident that claimed Faizan’s life, has similar injuries but is terrified of seeking medical attention as he fears the police’s reprisal.
The Delhi Police’s actions during last week’s communal riots, which have claimed at least 42 lives in the national capital, have come under increasing scrutiny. Much of the criticism thus far has focused on the police’s seeming inability to stop the violence. Videos of policemen assaulting civilians have been explained away as an attempt to bring the violence under control.
Now, the following sequence of events leading to Faizan’s death suggests some members of the Delhi Police actively participated in the communal riots, and bear direct responsibility for at least some of the deaths and violence that unfolded between February 23 and February 27 2020. The Delhi Police reports to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah from the Hindu-rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP’s Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, and Delhi elections candidate Kapil Mishra have been accused of giving inflammatory speeches shortly before the riots, in a petition before India’s Supreme Court. Opposition parties have demanded Shah’s resignation in light of the Delhi Police’s actions during the riots.
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