The Delhi Assembly on Thursday witnessed chaos after Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan accused a political party of playing a role in the violence that erupted in North East Delhi last year, PTI reported. Khan, who is the chairman of the Minority Welfare Committee of the Assembly, made the allegation while presenting its report on the February 2020 violence.

After Khan’s remarks, Bharatiya Janata Party and AAP MLAs got involved in a heated exhange. BJP MLA Anil Bajpayi was marshalled out of the House after he entered the Well to lodge his protest. Speaker Ram Niwas Goel later expunged Khan’s comment from the House records and discontinued him from speaking on the committee’s report, according to PTI.

The Speaker also directed Bajpayi to remain absent from the House for the remaining part of the day. He then adjourned the Assembly amid commotion, PTI reported.

In the live stream of the Assembly proceedings, Khan’s comment and the ruckus that ensued can be seen from 51.00 to 1 hour 03.00 mark.

Delhi violence

Clashes had broken out between supporters of the Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it between February 23 and 26 last year in North East Delhi, killing at least 53 people and injuring hundreds. The police were accused of either inaction or complicity in some instances of violence, mostly in Muslim neighbourhoods. The violence was the worst in Delhi since the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.

The Delhi Police claim that the violence was part of a larger conspiracy to defame Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and was planned by those who organised the protests against the amended Citizenship Amendment Act. They also claimed the protestors had secessionist motives and were using “the facade of civil disobedience” to destabilise the government. The police have arrested several activists and students based on these “conspiracy” charges.