Salman Khurshid, Brinda Karat gave provocative speeches during CAA protests: Delhi riots charge sheet

More politicians and activists, including Salman Khurshid, Brinda Karat, and Annie Raja, find mention as making "provocative speeches" in disclosure statements of accused that are part of charge sheets filed by Delhi Police in riots that took place in February.

The other names which were mentioned in disclosure statements include CPI(ML)'s Kavita Krishnan, activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, scientist Gauhar Raza, and student activist Kawalpreet Kaur.

In a separate charge sheet earlier, the names of CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Swaraj Abhiyan's Yogendra Yadav, economist Jayati Ghosh and Delhi University professor Apoorvanand were mentioned as part of disclosure reports in which they were accused of provoking and mobilising anti-CAA protesters.

Also read: Charge sheet claims objective of Delhi riots conspirators was to uproot lawfully-elected govt: Report

The charge sheet also said that Rs 1.61 crore was received by Jahan, Saifi, Tahir Hussain, Sifa-ur-Rehman and Meeran Haide between 1 December 2019 and 26 February 2020. Of this, Rs 1.48 crore was withdrawn in cash and "spent in managing the protest sites as well as to execute the conspiracy hatched for the riots".

Khurshid's name comes in the disclosure statements of Khalid Saifi and former Congress councilor Ishrat Jahan. According to the charge sheet, Saifi and Jahan had called many people, including Khurshid, to sustain the protest for more days.

The CPI accused the Delhi Police of "trying to frame" political leaders and activists who are critical of the "anti-people policies" of the BJP-led government in the February riots cases.

It said that Delhi Police is indulging in a "conspiracy" aimed at criminalising those who speak against human rights violations and injustice, rather than catching the real perpetrators of the violence. "The Party deplores the role of Delhi Police in investigating the North-East Delhi riots targeting leaders and activists including CPI National Executive Member Annie Raja, also General Secretary, National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW)," the CPI statement said.

Also read: Ishrat Jahan, Tahir Hussain, others received Rs 1.61 crore for executing conspiracy in Delhi riots: Charge sheet

Congress' Rajya Sabha Chief whip and senior leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "A former Foreign Minister and Law Minister, Salman Khurshid is amongst the nicest, gentlest, learned, nationalistic, secular Indians I have known, and he figures in a chargesheet! It is a SHAME on the Delhi Police and it's true and two masters."

Delhi Police had earlier said that none of them are named as accused in the charge sheet.

According to the charge sheet, "several big names used to come to the Khureji site to give speeches against CAA/NPR/NRC, like Udit Raj, Salman, Khurshid, Brinda Karat, Umar Khalid (former JNU student leader)...," one of the witnesses has claimed.

"In order to sustain the protest for a long time, several known persons were called by me and Khalid Saifi on the instructions of JCC, like Salman Kurshid, (filmmaker) Rahul Roy, Bhim Army member Himanshu, Chandan Kumar... gave provocative speeches because of which all the people sitting in the protest used to get instigated against the government," according to disclosure statement by Jahan.

In his disclosure statement, Saifi claimed Yogender Yadav, Bhushan, Kurshid also used to attend these speeches.