BJP leader Kapil Mishra has been accused by many opposition parties and protesters opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as being the 'cause' behind the violence in northeast Delhi since Monday.
Mishra, a minister in the first AAP government of Arvind Kejriwal, had joined the BJP in August last year. On Sunday, Mishra had visited Maujpur in northeast Delhi, where a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act had begun last weekend. Mishra had issued a virtual 'ultimatum' to the Delhi Police to clear the streets in three days. Violence erupted in the area hours later.
Despite the demands, rising from various quarters, to take action against him, Kapil Mishra remains defiant.
On Wednesday, Mishra tweeted in Hindi that "Those who never considered Burhan Wani and Afzal Guru terrorists are calling Kapil Mishra a terrorist. Those who wanted to free Yakub Memon, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Islam are demanding that Kapil Mishra be arrested.”
Mishra's tweet, which ended with a religious slogan, lists a number of names commonly referred to by rightwing groups.
Earlier on Wednesday, Mishra tweeted to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to immediately provide "compensation of rs 1 crore" to the family of constable Ratan Lal, who had been killed in the northeast Delhi violence on Monday. Mishra asked Kejriwal, "Why is there a delay [in the matter]? Why are you silent?"
On Tuesday, Mishra alleged he was receiving threats to kill him from people in India and abroad. Mishra tweeted, "Phone calls from the country and overseas are continually coming, declaring I would be killed... threats are being issued. To demand that closed roads be opened is not a crime. To support the CAA is not a crime. To tell the truth is not a crime. I don't fear this massive hate campaign against me."
In December, Mishra uploaded a video of him leading a large crowd of people supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Delhi. In the video, people can be heard chanting, “Shoot the traitors,” in an apparent reference to opponents of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Mishra tweeted, “We too have come out on the streets; let there be no misunderstanding: We know how to win in Parliament, we also know how to win on the street. I have come out on to the streets with thousands of youths of Delhi...”
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Mishra had also levelled allegations against Aysha Renna and Ladeeda Farzana, two prominent faces of the protests at Jamia Millia Islamia. Mishra alleged Aysha and Farzana were openly writing in Facebook that Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon were their heroes and they did not accept secularism.
During the Delhi Assembly election campaign, Mishra was banned from campaigning for 48 hours after he tweeted the contest was akin to a India versus Pakistan match.
