Delhi: House panel calls for peace at meet with religious heads

NEW DELHI: To ensure there is no repeat of violence during the Friday prayers and Holi next week, the legislators of riot-affected northeast Delhi held a peace meeting with religious heads and prominent people of the region on Thursday.
The meeting was organised by the Delhi legislative assembly’s peace and harmony committee at the auditorium of Ambedkar College near Gokalpuri.
Speaking at the meeting, Seelampur MLA Abdul Rehman urged Delhi Police to deploy its personnel across the region to ensure there is no untoward incident during the festival.
“We have to observe Holi with peace, love and brotherhood. I request Delhi Police to deploy at least four constables at each location where Holika Dahan takes place,” Rehman said, adding that both the Hindus and the Muslims should set an example.
The meeting was attended by the committee chairman Saurabh Bharadwaj, members Ajay Mahawar of BJP and Dilip Pandey, Kuldeep Kumar, BS Joon, Raghav Chadha and Rehman of AAP. Karawal Nagar MLA Mohan Singh Bisht, Mustafabad MLA Haji Yunus and Gokalpuri legislator Surender Kumar were present.
Special commissioner of police, Satish Golcha, and Northeast and Shahdara district magistrates, Shashi Kaushal and Sanjeev Kumar, also took part in the meeting.
Those who addressed the participants insisted that the miscreants should be dealt with sternly.
“Please do not associate them with any community. They are just anti-social elements,” social activist Faheem Beg said.
Bharadwaj said communal tension sometimes intensifies during the festivals and it is important that all prominent people from both the communities meet the locals and spread the message of harmony.
Bisht said it was the responsibility of the elected representatives to convince people that riots do not help any community.
Yunus said there were several people who left their houses fearing violence, and the government, along with social activists, NGOs, prominent people and police, shall try to convince them to come back.
Golcha said extra force was deployed to ensure peace in the riot-affected areas. “Local SHOs have been directed to organise peace meetings. Our officials are meeting people and ensuring their safety. We have also directed the local police to register FIRs on all complaints they receive. We will ensure that every needy person gets the documents from us to file compensation claims,” the special commissioner of police said.
“The Delhi assembly committee has launched a WhatsApp number and an email address which people should use to report online rumours and hate messages,” Mahawar added.