Communal clashes broke out in several parts of the National Capital earlier this week as anti-CAA rioters ran riot, clashing with the pro-CAA supporters and wantonly indulging in acts of violence, arson and vandalism. Soon, the clashes turned into full-blown Hindu-Muslim riots as large scale violence was unleashed against the Hindus.

In one such incident that captured the national attention, IB sleuth Ankit Sharma was mercilessly dragged by a ferocious Muslim mob operating from AAP leader Tahir Hussain’s building. A video of a frenzied Muslim mob standing atop the Hussain’s bungalow hurling petrol bombs and stones in the opposite lane had gone viral. The witnesses claimed that it was this mob which dragged Sharma and 2 other inside the bungalow. Later, Sharma’s badly mutilated body with hundreds of stab wounds was found abandoned in a ditch in Chand Bagh.

In order to determine the origins and severity of the attack, journalist Swati Goel Sharma and her colleague Sanjeev Newar canvassed the residents of the Hindu locality around the AAP corporator Tahir Hussain’s house.

According to the residents, the unruly Muslim mob perched on the top of Hussain’s building wildly flung bricks and petrol bombs at the opposite street, in order to attack a Shiv temple located there. A building adjoining to the temple was burnt down by the rampaging mob. The incessant attack on the temple structure had rendered the entire edifice rickety and tottering, on the verge of collapse.

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In a Twitter thread, Newar shared the findings of his expedition around Tahir Hussain’s house. The streets, as well as buildings around the AAP corporator’s house, were strewn with bricks and the remains of petrol bombs.

Everyone is talking about attack on a mosque. No one is showing that this was reaction to lethal attacks on Hindu temples and Hindus. Even Islamic invasions of medieval ages and Nanakpura in 2020 saw same pattern. Why are we scared to name who start it all, always?@swati_gs pic.twitter.com/jB07yBBixZ — Sanjeev Newar संजीव नेवर (@SanjeevSanskrit) February 28, 2020

Amidst the ensuing violence, a video of an attack on a mosque in Delhi’s Ashok Nagar had gone viral. The video was used by the liberal brigade to project Hindus as aggressors while Muslims as the innocent victims of the saffron onslaught. However, according to the eyewitnesses of the Delhi riots, it was the Muslim community who initiated the communal flare-up by first attacking a Hindu temple devoted to Lord Shiva.

“They are declaring through mosques the coordinated attacks on Hindus and their temples with date and time, specifically mentioning the number of temples in the area and threatening that not a single temple will be left. They had attacked a Shiva temple in Moonga Nagar, lane number 5 by hurling petrol bombs and stones at it,” one of the eyewitnesses said.

When asked if the attack on the temple in Moonga Nagar, lane number 5 had preceded the attack on a mosque, a video of which had gone viral, all the eyewitnesses replied in unison that the attack on the temple by Muslim mob happened before the mosque was attacked.

In another video attached by Sanjeev, an eyewitness corroborated the claim that Muslim mob had launched an offensive against the Shiva temple situated in the Moonga Nagar, lane number 5.

This is the building of Shiva Mandir that was attacked. The building may now fall anytime. The roof of temple and adjoining buildings are full of stones and petrol bombs. Will MSM showcase this as continuation of Ghazni invasions and Direct Action Days for 1000 years?@swati_gs pic.twitter.com/L8zT0lhKYU — Sanjeev Newar संजीव नेवर (@SanjeevSanskrit) February 28, 2020

“The Muslim mob from Tahir’s bungalow were targeting the temple but because this furniture shop stood before the temple, they attacked this building as well and set it on fire. They had hurled petrol bombs and stones at the temple. The attack from the Muslim mob had rendered the building so weak and frail that it can collapse any time now. If you visit the terrace of the nearby building, you will see stones, bricks scattered all around there,” an eyewitness said.