New Delhi: The Bengaluru riots were not spontaneous but “communally motivated, pre-planned and an organised conspiracy” to possibly change the demography of the area, a fact-finding committee, headed by retired judge Justice Srikanth D. Babaladi, claimed Friday.
“Based on the kind of houses that have been attacked and people who have been targeted, the motive of the riots could also be fear-mongering so as to change the demography and turn the area into a Muslim majority one,” the committee, belonging to organisation Citizens for Democracy, has claimed.
The committee submitted its report to Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa Friday. They had earlier visited the riot-affected areas of K.G. Halli and D.J. Halli in Pulakeshinagar constituency in Bengaluru.
The committee members said the chief minister has assured to convene a meeting with the home minister, and Bengaluru police commissioner and other senior police officials and initiate appropriate action.
A Facebook post on Prophet Muhammad had allegedly triggered the riots in Bengaluru on 11 August, leading to police firing that left three dead. A mob had also torched the home of Pulakeshinagar MLA Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy of the Congress as his nephew, P. Naveen, had put out the post.
Also read: ‘Warned Naveen, but he did not listen’ — father of man whose post led to Bengaluru riots
Role of women can’t be ruled out
Terming the riots as “mob lynching” and being “communally motivated”, the committee also alleged that the role of women can’t be ruled out in “the entire conspiracy”. The committee members said that while Shaheen Bagh was happening, Bilal Bagh protests were taking place spontaneously in Bengaluru.
“It has been a pattern all over India to use Muslim women and children as shields in any kind of agitation. After the riots, on the 16 August, a group of Muslim women tried to enter the police stations to force the police to release their near and dear ones on the grounds that they were all innocent,” states the report, a copy of which has been accessed by ThePrint.
“The riots in Delhi in February 2020, Sweden riots (Malmo) and the Oxford Street of London have all seen Muslim women leading the protests. Islamic mindset is seen to be following the same pattern all around the world. In Bengaluru, women attempted to forcefully enter the police stations to pressurise the state.”
The committee, in its 49-page report, has also blamed the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Popular Front of India (PFI) for being involved in the planning and execution of the incident.
“After visiting the riot affected area, interacting with several victims, police and prominent people and after perusing available evidence, we have inferred the following. That the riots were pre-planned and organised. The mob has specifically targeted certain prominent Hindus in the area. That the entire incident qualifies to be a riot against the state with the motive of reducing the faith of common people in the State,” states the report.
Also read: Bengaluru has seen 8 major riots since 1986 — including two over Prophet Muhammad
‘Locals involved, make them compensate for loss’
The report further says the local people were also involved in carrying out this riot, something which they found out from FIRs and certain interactions with the victims.
“The committee is of the opinion that the locals were not only involved in execution but were also aware about it in advance,” the report further states. “Despite attempts being made to project the same as political rivalry, it was undoubtedly communally motivated.”
The committee has made certain recommendations to the government and the police too. “All the costs that have been incurred by the state and private persons have to be recovered by attaching the property of the rioters. The pattern of the riots is common with that of Delhi and Sweden,” the report said. “Therefore, it is imperative for the state to investigate the incident holistically and not consider them to be isolated and local.”
Citizens for Democracy
Citizens for Democracy calls itself is a platform of responsible citizens committed to democratic values, safety and security of the citizens of India. It was started in 2011.
Apart from judge Babaladi (retd), other members of the fact-finding team included retired IAS officer Madan Gopal, retired IFS officer Dr R. Raju, retired IRS officer Dr Prakash, retired DGP M.N. Krishnamurthy, journalists R.K. Mattoo and Santhosh Thimmaiah, professors M. Jayappa, and H.T. Aravinda.
The members said the committee visited the areas on 16 August and 18 August.
“The committee took account of the value of damage perpetrated to state property and private property, interacted with the victims and their families, neighbours of affected families and eyewitnesses,” it said.
“The committee also visited the police stations to understand the incident from the eyes of the police who have also been injured by the rioters. Further, the committee also visited the houses of those families who have lost their near ones during the shooting by the police to disperse the crowd.”
“After careful analysis of the evidences, the committee is convinced that the incident is more of the nature of lynching than that of rioting. It was deposed by a witness that their houses were specifically targeted,” it added. “The witnesses deposed that all the rioters were Muslims. It can be seen that all the accused named in the FIR belong to Muslim community. Further the mob has attacked only Hindu houses and destroyed vehicles belonging to Hindus.”
Also read: SDPI doesn’t fear ban over Bengaluru riots, says will emerge stronger just like RSS