Revealing what is already an established fact, Meeran Haider, the president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Delhi Youth Wing and a Ph.D. student at the Jamia Milia Islamia University, said that the February 2020 Delhi Riots were planned. Meeran also revealed that Popular Front of India (PFI), a banned Muslim extremist group, funded the riots. Meeran Haider is an accused in the Delhi Riots case. He has been arrested under UAPA and is currently under judicial custody.
As per the reports, while interrogation, Haider also revealed that the Delhi Riots were divided into three parts i.e. protests, roadblocks, and finally riots. Â Meeran explained that the whole conspiracy started after Jamia’s violence on December 15. A group of radicalized students and alumni formed JCC (Jamia Coordination Committee), followed by a WhatsApp group in the same name. They started planning the communal riots and divided the roles to each and every member of the group. Gradually, several other student organizations were also added to the group.
Meeran Haider said that he was given the responsibility to channelize the crowd at the protest sites at Shaheen Bagh, Seelampur, Jaffarabad, Turkman Gate, Khureji, Mustafabad, and Indralok. The RJD Youth leader then revealed that the banner outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) joined the movement and provided funds to instigate communal riots in Delhi. He said that he used to visit these places and update the developments of the JCC group. Later, Jaffarabad and Seelampur were chosen for the riots. And Meeran was given the responsibility to arrange, stone, knives, and petrol.
He told the police that he himself collected Rs 5 Lakh to arrange protesters and arms. Meeran said he had prepared a register before the riots in which he kept the record of all funds being collected for the purpose. He further said that they also used the money received as ‘Zakat’ to fund the riots. With the help of these funds, they purchased gadgets and other items.
The RJD youth wing leader also revealed the names of Natasha and Devangana, the members of DU’s Pinjatod group. He told Delhi Police that the members of the Pinjdatod group used to give inflammatory speeches and were secretly associated with this movement.
When asked why he conducted riots, Meeran Haider said that scrapping of Article 370, Babri Masjid verdict by SC, and then the implementation of CAA all these issues had filled anger and hatred in his mind. He wanted to take revenge and thus, thought of uniting Muslims against the government.
