Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra, who raised over Rs 71 lakh through crowdfunding last month to help only the Hindu victims of Delhi riots, is at it again—he is now eyeing raising Rs1 crore for the same purpose.
Mishra, just in case a reminder is needed, has been alleged to have incited the riots in Northeast Delhi that left 53 people dead, injured over 500 and destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of families. The violence broke out on 23 February, soon after Mishra led a rally in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Maujpur area near Jaffrabad. He even delivered an ultimatum to the Delhi Police to remove the anti-CAA protesters from the area.
Mishra, who contested and lost from a BJP ticket in the recent Delhi assembly polls, has not been charged with hate speech or faced any consequences yet.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Mishra said 150 Hindu families lost their loved ones in the riots that engulfed Delhi, and that “no one” wanted to talk about them. The tweet was accompanied by the hashtag #1Crore4DelhiHindu, which was trending at No. 2 in India at the time of writing this story.
Several volunteers have been conducting crowdfunding efforts through Twitter for the victims of the riot—without differentiating by religion. Dushyant, an advocate who has been coordinating funding for victims, tweeted on Monday that a team headed by him had raised Rs1.42 crore for about 80 families.
Mishra’s most recent campaign, which is being held through a crowdfunding website, has already raised over Rs 70 lakh. The goal of the campaign, as stated on the website, is to disburse Rs 15 lakh per affected family. It also said that the target amount of the campaign will be updated because several victims are yet to be identified.
Like his last effort, the campaign is managed by “Dharma Kosh, a group of Dharmic volunteers” and Kapil Mishra’s team.
The BJP leader had conducted a similar campaign last month on a website called crowdkash.com and managed to crowdfund over Rs 71 lakh. The aim of the campaign was to provide “short term relief for these underprivileged Hindu families who have been impacted by the riots”.
Mishra has been accused of raising incendiary slogans during pro-CAA rallies. He was caught on camera chanting “goli maaro saalon ko” during a rally in December. A plea has also been filed in the Supreme Court, claiming Mishra incited and orchestrated the violence.
Home Minister Amit Shah, during his reply to the debate on Delhi riots in the Lok Sabha, only said the matter of Mishra’s alleged hate speech was under examination by the police.
A video clip of Mishra’s alleged inflammatory speech was also played in the Delhi High Court last month after deputy commissioner of police (crime branch) Rajesh Deo told the court he had not seen a clip of Mishra’s speeches.
The court was hearing a plea by activist Harsh Mander, who sought registration of FIR against politicians for hate speech and probe into “police inaction” during the Delhi riots.