Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been lying low since the Delhi riots ravaged the north-eastern part of the capital and claimed over 40 lives besides injuries to about 200 people in the unseemly rivalry between supporters of the Citizenship Amendment Act and its staunch antagonists. That the day after three days of disorder, it was National Security Adviser Ajit Doval who bravely toured the worst-affected areas mostly on foot from door to door surely raised the sagging public morale and deserves to be commended, but the damage had been done and no amount of explaining can hide the appalling failure of the administration to prevent the riots from breaking out at a time when US President Donald Trump and his entourage was in India on an official visit. Happily for the mischief-mongers, the anticipated deviousness of miscreants to tar the country’s name was succeeding. Since Delhi police falls under the Union Home Ministry, in all fairness the Home Minister cannot absolve himself of responsibility. If accountability is to be fixed as it should be, Home Minister Amit Shah needs to be called to account and some negligent or complicit heads need to roll. Only then can any credible action be taken against a host of others for dereliction of duty. Shielding Shah from some kind of accountability will predictability lower the credibility of the Narendra Modi government which has already received a battering.

This is not to deny that examples of failure and dereliction of duty abounded even under the erstwhile Congress regime, but that is no ground not to fix responsibility now when per se the Modi regime is stronger and more accountability-conscious. Amit Shah has excelled as an organiser and his usefulness to the current dispensation is undoubted. But in this case he has slipped up even as the signals of escalating violence were sharp and clear. The BJP, the Congress and some other parties also need to think hard about communal polarisation during elections which has jeopardised peace and public order from time to time. But at the same time perpetrators of violence need to be handled with firmness regardless of the party in power. It is also true that the courts have exposed themselves to the charge of procrastination. The CAA has been hanging fire for fairly long even as the Supreme Court fails to give a clear judgement on it. It is some relief that despite prolonged agitation and dharnas there has been no manifest violence at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi. While the agitation at Shaheen Bagh must be ended forthwith, those responsible for the trouble in northwest Delhi must be brought to book. This must include those who instigated the riots with their shockingly provocative speeches and comments.

It is unfortunate indeed that the visit of US President Donald Trump to India was to an extent overshadowed by the riots in the nation’s capital. That this served the interests of anti-national elements within the country and of their foreign masters who are perennially looking for an opportunity to embarrass India is unfortunate. Having anticipated that vested interests would work overtime to show the government in poor light, the Modi government should have taken all possible steps to prevent escalation in Delhi which at any event is the hotbed of politics. To prevent any further damage, the Modi government must ensure that the perpetrators of the violence and its instigators are not treated with lack of fairness. Evenhandedness in dealing with them will establish higher standards for the future and ensure that the government’s credibility remains untarred.

Community leaders too must exercise greater maturity and restraint. That peace committees were activated effectively after the third day of disorder shows that loss of lives and property could have been partially averted had there been timely action. It is important that the right lessons be drawn from the experience. While there are immediate measures that are necessary, long-term solutions must also be thought out and implemented. There is no doubt that communal relations have suffered in recent times. While minority appeasement is not the solution, a fair and even-handed approach is the need of the hour. Exemplary punishment must be meted out to those proven to be responsible some of whom went berserk while they led or participated in mobs.