Anti-CAA vs pro-CAA at Shaheen Bagh protests
FACE-OFF Supporters of the law shouted slogans calling for ‘shooting traitors’
NEW DELHI: Shaheen Bagh saw a counter-protest in favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, a day after a man opened fired in the air metres away from where protesters against the new citizenship law have been on sit-in.
The group shouted slogans against the anti-CAA protesters in Shaheen Bagh, claiming the blockade of road 13A since December 15 has inconvenienced commuters. Most CAA supporters called for “shooting the traitors”, in a hark back to a slogan prompted by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Anurag Thakur during a rally in Rithala last week. They also attempted to march towards to the stage area where residents of the locality have been holding a sit-in protest. They were stopped by police officers there.
The situation remained tense throughout the day with the supporters mobilising and dispersing intermittently, keeping the police on their toes till the evening. Police said 52 people from the group were detained after they continued their protests despite not granted the permission required. Around 500 police personnel were deployed in the area with two-layer barricading at multiple spots.
On Thursday, a teenager shot at protesters outside the Jamia Millia Islamia, injuring a student of the university.
Police also used hand-held scanners at the Kalindi Kunj entry point among others to frisk visitors. Multiple entry-points at the protest site saw volunteers and police personnel checking those entering the site.
The entry to the foot overbridge at Shaheen Bagh’s road 13A was also restricted on Sunday by protesters who allowed only verified media personnel to access it, permitting only those with identity cards .
“Around 200 volunteers are now looking at security arrangements in various capacities. From frisking to checking identity cards, we have asked all our volunteers to remain alert for any suspicious elements. We are also thinking of arranging for CCTV surveillance,” said Mohammad Asif, a protester. “We have been doing these checks for quite some time now. But the intensity of it has increased after yesterday’s incident. We have seen how checks are done for people travelling in Metros and flights, and are emulating that for the safety of everyone here,” said Reshma, a resident of Jamia Nagar.
Barely a few hundreds metres from the Shaheen Bagh protest site, a group of around 150 tried to march towards the tent and question if the women protesters understood the details of the CAA. Shouting slogans, many groups tried to cross the police barricade and visit the protest site but were stopped by the heavy police security on the road. Their protest began around 11am and continued till late evening.
The CAA supporters were from different right-wing organisations, and nearby villages of Jaitpur, Madanpur Khadar, parts of Sarita Vihar, Badarpur, and Faridabad in Haryana. Sagar Malik, vice president of the Delhi unit of Sudarshan Vahini, said, “We had planned to mobilise and get thousands of people to launch a counter-demonstration against the Shaheen Bagh protesters. But were not given the permission.”
Other members of Malik’s group said they could “clear the road blockade in 10 minutes”, but did not want to take the law into their hands. When questioned on the “shoot the traitors” slogans being raised by the protesters around him, he said, “We are talking about traitors. Why are people in Shaheen Bagh getting bothered by it if they don’t consider themselves traitors?”
Upendra Kumar, a local who said he belonged to the Hindu Sena and Bajrang Dal, said, “We wanted to create pressure on the government to get the roads opened. It was just 200-300 people here and we are being contained in our areas and not being allowed to protest on the road.”