‘I fully believe that Umar Khalid will be hanged’: BJP’s Kapil Mishra reacts to activist’s arrest

Mishra had made an incendiary speech targeting anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protestors before the violence broke out in North East Delhi on February 23.

In a video message, BJP leader Kapil Mishra has congratulated the Delhi Police on the arrest of activist Umar Khalid in the Delhi violence case.

“The violence that took place in Delhi in February 2020 was similar to the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai,” Mishra said in the video recorded inside a car. “I have full faith that criminals like Umar Khalid and Tahir Hussain will be hanged, imprisoned for life, for killing people. The citizens of Delhi await justice,” he added.

Activist and former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Umar Khalid was arrested by the Delhi Police on Sunday night under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after nearly 11 hours of questioning.

Mishra has been at the centre of a raging controversy about his own role in instigating the riots. Addressing a group of supporters on February 23, the BJP leader gave an ultimatum to the police to clear the roads of protestors holding a sit-in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act at Jafrabad in North East Delhi. In the presence of a senior police officer, he said that if the police failed to do so, his supporters would be forced to take action. His speech raised tensions in the area and precipitated skirmishes that afternoon.

However, the police have failed to take action against him.