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Ragini Tiwari
Ragini Tiwari, aka ‘Janki behen,” is a self-proclaimed Hindutva leader who openly calls for violence against minorities, especially Muslims in India. Not much is known about Tiwari except that she originally hails from Bihar and claims to be a proud “Maithili,” a language spoken in the Northern and Eastern Parts of Bihar.
However, much of her political work is focused on Delhi. In an interview given to News24 on February 29, Tiwari said she isn’t associated with any political party. In another video, she claims she campaigned for BJP candidate from Laxmi Nagar Abhay Verma in the Assembly elections in Delhi earlier this year.
Tiwari is considered one of the principal architects of the Delhi pogrom of February 2020, which left at least 53 people dead, mostly Muslims, and injured another 500. She delivered highly communal speeches on Facebook live in the run-up to the riots and indulged in stone pelting with Hindu rioters in front of police officers at Maujpur on February 23, 2020.
“Enough attacks on Hinduism. We won’t tolerate such attacks anymore. Hindus, come out. Die or kill. Rest shall be seen later. If your blood hasn’t boiled even now, it’s not blood, but it is water,” Tiwari said on a Facebook live.
Remember Ragni Tiwari and her FB live from NE Delhi? Turns out there's more to what she did on 23-24 Feb, just before violence.
Why isn't she part of Delhi Police's chronology?
Story coming up shortly on @TheQuint pic.twitter.com/0vmfHl6O7n
— Aditya Menon (@AdityaMenon22) June 13, 2020
Another eyewitness had seen her fire bullets, hitting a person on the head at Mohan Nursing Home near Bhajanpura Petrol Pump in North East Delhi on the night of February 23, 2020.
“Ragini Tiwari was the first to shoot at us, and it hit the head of a boy who was standing there. This caused confusion. After this, there was stone pelting and firing. This is when I ran home,” an eyewitness said.
In another Facebook live in June 2020, Tiwari admitted that she “cleaned out Jafrabad,” thus confessing to her role in the pogrom.
“Yes, for my country and religion, I cleaned out Jaffrabad, and I don’t regret it. If I stay alive, then I vow that every time Shaheen Bagh and Jaffrabad [situations] are created, I will clean them out again, in my style,” she said.
Despite many complaints and glaring evidence, the Delhi police chose not to file any case against Tiwari.
In December 2020, Tiwari uploaded another video threatening to turn the ongoing farmers’ protest into another Jafrabad (a reference to an anti-Muslim pogrom in Delhi).
“If the government doesn’t get rid of the farmers’ protest by December 16, then on February 17, Ragini Tiwari will create another Jafrabad and again clear the roads. Whatever happens, the Centre, the state government, and the Delhi Police will be responsible. My sisters get ready… Nationalists, come out and support me,” she said.
References:
https://www.article-14.com/post/the-hateful-facebook-adventures-of-ragini-tiwari-friends
https://thewire.in/law/delhi-police-ragini-tiwari-fir-hate-speech-delhi-riots
https://sabrangindia.in/article/fir-against-serial-hate-offender-ragini-tiwari-finally