Harsh Mander: Six years after the Delhi riots, the state’s defiant failings

Sadly with few exceptions, the record of the Indian state in securing justice and reparation for survivors of mass communal violence is badly tainted ever since the first major post-Independence riot in Jabalpur in 1961.

But even by the standards of this disgraceful record, the communal carnage in North East Delhi in 2020 stands apart. These communal clashes in the working-class neighbourhoods of north-east Delhi were followed by the comprehensive and wanton denial by state authorities of rescue, relief, compensation and justice to the victims of the hate violence unleashed in the national capital.

In many ways, in its neglect of its duties to protect its citizens from violence and to assist them to rebuild their lives and secure justice, the union and state government in Delhi hit a new low. This constitutes one of the most dishonourable chapters in the Modi years.

The communal fury that engulfed this enclave of the national capital rose in the wake of the nationwide non-violent protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. In the winter of 2019-’20, ordinary citizens across India rallied spontaneously against this legislation because it was widely perceived to discriminate against Muslims by targeting their religious identity. This was seen as a frontal assault on India’s...

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