BJP leader Kapil Mishra on Monday said he had no regrets about the speech targeting the anti-CAA protesters made by him a day before the Northeast Delhi riots broke out last year, and stressed that if required, he would do it again.

“  Whenever roads will be blocked, and people would be prevented from going to work, or children to school, there will always be a Kapil Mishra to stop that,”  the former Delhi MLA said.

“ I will do what I did again. I don’t have any regrets, except that I couldn’t save the lives of Dinesh Khatik, Ankit Sharma (riot victims) and many others,”  he said at the launch of the book “ Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story” . Referring to the violence during protests against the farm bills on Republic Day, Mishra said the same “ pradarshan se danga tak’ (from demonstration to riots) model is very much evident”  .

On February 23, 2020, Mishra in his controversial speech had given an ultimatum threatening to remove those protesting on road against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Delhi’s Jaffrabad.

The speech was blamed by a section as among the triggers for the communal violence that ensued following clashes between supporters and opponents of the CAA. At least 53 people were killed and scores of others injured in the riots.

“ What other way is there to give an ultimatum in a democracy? I did that in front of a police official. Do people who want to start a riot give ultimatums in front of the police?”  Mishra said.

While the police refuted the role of Mishra’s speech in inciting the riots, a Delhi Minority Commission report in July last year noted that violence erupted soon after his speech.

Reacting sharply to Mishra’s remarks, CPM leader Brinda Karat alleged that he was a “ serial offender”  and should have been in jail.