Delhi CM requests for more force from Centre, meets officials to discuss measures to restore peace

PTI, Feb 26, 2020, 9:37 AM IST

New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to increase police force in violence-affected areas in northeast Delhi and held a meeting with AAP MLAs and officials to discuss measures to restore peace.

The chief minister, accompanied by his deputy Manish Sisodia, other ministers and party MLAs, visited Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial Rajghat to pray for peace in Delhi. He also requested the people to maintain calm and peace.

Earlier, attending an all-party meeting convened by Shah, Kejriwal requested that police force be increased in affected areas and powers be given to it to take necessary action to contain violence.

He also visited the family of Delhi Police Head Constable Ratan Lal who was killed in violence on Monday. The chief minister faced protests as a crowd gathered outside Lal’s house in Burari and raised slogans asking him to go back.

“Violence can solve nothing. The people of Delhi should maintain calm and peace,” Kejriwal urged on more than one occasion.

Kejriwal started the day meeting his party MLAs and officials at his residence to discuss the situation in the city.

He instructed the district magistrates and SDMs to carry out peace marches in the affected areas, said a Delhi government statement.

In the afternoon, Kejriwal attended a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, the Delhi police commissioner and leaders of different political parties.

“In the meeting with the Union Home Minister, he appealed for deployment of additional forces in Delhi and allow the police to take necessary action.”

He also requested that proper security be maintained at the borders of the city so that no outsiders can enter Delhi to create trouble.

“The authorities have assured us that they will strengthen the police force and deploy as many police personnel as needed. Everybody has decided to rise above party politics and work towards reinstating peace in the city”, he said after meeting Shah.

He appealed to the people of Delhi to join hands together to stop violence, saying that no one is going to benefit from it and every issue will be resolved through peaceful negotiations.

“The violence that has erupted in North East Delhi in the last few days is a matter of grave concern for all of us. I want to appeal to the people of Delhi to maintain peace and harmony. All problems can be resolved with a peaceful discourse on the matter. Violence is never the answer,” he said in a press conference.

The chief minister said that hospital authorities in the affected area have been alerted and instructions provided to them so that the injured people can get proper treatment.

The Fire Department has been instructed to coordinate with the police, so that they can reach the affected areas in time, he said.

The temples and mosques situated in the affected areas must also appeal to the people to maintain peace and calm, Kejriwal said.

The chief minister along with Sisodia also met the injured policemen and civilians at GTB hospital in Shahdara and Max hospital in Patparganj.

“I met the people injured in the violence, including those with bullet injuries. I have instructed that special care be given for the injured, more beds arranged, more doctors roped in and all possible measures are taken to save the lives of the victims. Treating the injured is not an issue,” he said.

Thirteen people died and over hundred were injured in the violence, so far, in several parts of north east Delhi over Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).