A report titled The Absent State: Comprehensive State Denial of Reparation & Recompense to the Survivors of the 2020 Delhi Pogrom was released by Karwan-e-Mohabbat in New Delhi on Wednesday, marking the fifth anniversary of the pogrom. The study, which analyzed 146 cases of victims, revealed that 117 claims related to property damage or loss were submitted to the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) office. However, only 25 victims—accounting for just 22%—received ex-gratia payments.
Among the 117 cases concerning property damage, 84 involved residential units, yet only 11 victims received financial aid.“This indicates that 86% of the victims, whose homes were damaged, were left without any emergency financial assistance. The absence of immediate financial support hindered their ability to return to normalcy,” the report said.
While these 117 survivors had sought compensation of Rs 73.94 lakh from the SDM office, only Rs 5.53 lakh was sanctioned, the report noted.
“This means that victims received just 7.49% of the amount they had sought, highlighting a significant disparity between the claims made and the relief sanctioned. The absence of an appeal system meant that those who were wrongly denied compensation, faced technical errors, or received incorrect amounts had no formal mechanism to challenge the decision…,” read the report.
The report further noted that 29 cases involving physical injuries were submitted to the SDM office, with compensation granted to 13 victims.
Karwan-e-Mohabbat, a people’s campaign run by veteran social worker Harsh Mander and colleagues, also examined these cases and highlighted that the compensation recommended by the North East Delhi Riots Compensation Commission (NEDRCC) in 2020 remains undistributed. The report pointed to “low fulfillment rates” and “systemic lapses in implementation” within the SDM office regarding ex-gratia payments for property damage.
The report revealed that NEDRCC received a total of 2,795 compensation applications across three phases, amounting to approximately Rs 150 crore in claims. However, the commission approved only around Rs 21 crore, covering both victim compensation and the government’s costs for repairing its damaged properties.
The report also noted that the compensation levels set for the 2020 pogrom were significantly lower than those granted by superior court orders to survivors of the 1984 Delhi Sikh genocide. Despite evaluations of losses being conducted and approved by NEDRCC and the Delhi High Court, many victim-survivors have yet to receive their due compensation.
The report highlighted that numerous victims were denied compensation as the SDM office invalidated the FIRs linked to their complaints. It stated, “In multiple instances, the police had filed omnibus FIRs, grouping multiple incidents under generic reports rather than registering individual complaints. This practice rendered many FIRs legally ineffective for compensation purposes.” The matter was later taken to the High Court, which ruled on June 22, 2020, that victims should not be obligated to provide an FIR if the police had failed to file them correctly. However, despite this ruling, many victims continued to be denied their claims.
