Note: This article was first published on March 3, 2021 and was republished on February 24, 2023. Investigation and reporting: Alishan Jafri and Shehlat Maknoon WaniIt’s been one year since 53 people were killed and hundreds of homes and shops damaged or destroyed in communal violence in Delhi. The victims were overwhelmingly Muslim.How would professional investigators solve a crime like this? By first identifying the men and women who took part in the violence, and then investigating who mobilised and instigated them to do what they did.But instead of doing that, the Delhi Police have spent the past ten months chasing down an imaginary conspiracy.The Wire has spent the past few months doing what the police have refused to do.In part one of our investigation into the conspiracy the police has ignored, we examined the role of two Hindutva activists, Deepak Singh Hindu and Ankit Tiwari.In part two, we will focus on Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati and his associates – whose hate speeches and incitement played a crucial role in radicalising the rioters who eventually unleashed a bloodbath in northeast Delhi in February, 2020.It is now clear that the relentless call for violence against Muslims in the run up to the riots was not abstract advocacy but an essential component of the real conspiracy – executed in the open because they knew the police would never touch them.Script and narration: Siddharth VaradarajanEditing: Shekhar TiwariInputs: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta and Seraj AliCamera: Devi DuttWatch part one here.
