Hanuman Jayanti rallies instigate communal violence in Jahangirpuri

“A BJP leader called us Bangladeshi … Check our documents. If we are Bangladeshi, pick us up, definitely,” Maulana Amjad Ali, a resident of Delhi’s Jahangirpuri locality, said. On 16 April, clashes broke out between Hindu and Muslim communities in north-west Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area during a rally to mark the Hindu festival of Hanuman Jayanti. Around ten people were injured, including one policeman who was shot in the arm. The Delhi Police has arrested around twenty-three people, including minors, for unlawful assembly and rioting. The majority of those arrested are Muslim. On April 19, five of the accused were further charged under the National Security Act. A first information report has also been filed against two men from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, both Hindutva outfits, for illegally carrying out a procession without prior permission.