Prominent ex-officials demand independent inquiry into police presence at Delhi’s Bangla Sahib shrine

A group of seventeen former officials and public personalities, among them ex-Delhi lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung, former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi and former Patna High Court chief justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari, sent a letter on October 11 demanding an independent, time-limited inquiry into police entry at the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara during the October 10 anti-Election Commission demonstrations. The correspondence, issued by Citizens for Fraternity - Bharat and addressed to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and the Delhi Police Commissioner, was also copied to the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and the chair of the National Commission for Minorities.

It argues that religious sites must not be used as extensions of police operations and that any intrusion should respect established protocols. Delhi police contend the video shows officers only walking through a shared corridor and label the claims as misleading, while they have lodged an FIR naming AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal and other party leaders over the protest footage. The letter calls for an inquiry into whether the police entry was necessary, whether religious guidelines were followed, and for the police to issue operational guidelines in consultation with religious bodies to safeguard public trust and religious dignity.