Largest clampdown since 1984
NEWDELHI: Red Fort in north Delhi to Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in the south; Seelampur in the north-east Delhi to Mayur Vihar in the east; and the New Delhi area — Delhi Police on Thursday imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC) across several parts of the National Capital.
Several officers in the police admitted that this was the first time in at least the last three decades — going back to the 1984 antisikh riots — that prohibitory orders were issued for such a large area in the city. Even during protests in the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case, police imposed such an order only at India Gate and some surrounding areas in the New Delhi area.
On Thursday, the entire northeast police district, except Sonia Vihar and Harsh Vihar, was under Section 144, according to one of the internal notices accessed by HT. In some of these areas, including Seelampur, Seemapuri, Welcome and Jaffrabad, the prohibitory orders are in force till January 17, 2020, unless withdrawn earlier by the police, the notice added.
Another such order accessed by HT, signed by the east district police’s deputy commissioner, Jasmeet Singh, read: “In view of the prevailing situation in Delhi, protest and demonstrations against the Citizenship Amendment
Act are organised at various places in East District. The protests are organised with/without intimation to police and district administration and there is a chance that anti-social social elements may participate in such protest/demonstration and incite communal and social disharmony.”
In areas where Section 144 is in place, a ban is imposed on the assembly of more than four people; there is restriction on any form of demonstration, as well as a ban on carrying weapons, sticks or torches.
The government also shut entry and exit points at 20 Metro stations — the largest ever block of such a kind — and curbed mobile connectivity — for the first time ever — in parts of south and central Delhi between 9am to 1pm. Former Delhi deputy commissioner LN Rao, who worked in the Delhi Police for 40 years from 1974 to 2014, said the only time that he remembers such large scale prohibitory orders were issued was in 1984.
“During the 1984 riots in Delhi, after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, we had issued a Section 144 order across the city. I was one of the officers on the ground during those days. This was the only time we had to issue an order on such a large scale,” Rao said.
In the aftermath of former
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her bodyguards, riots broke out in many parts of the national Capital, leaving nearly 3,000 persons dead. In many pockets across the city, mobs killed Sikh residents in retaliation for Gandhi’s killing. The worst affected places in Delhi were Kalyanpuri, Trilokpuri, Janakpuri and Mahipalpur.
The police on Thursday imposed the restrictions on the grounds that protests had turned violent in a few places across the city over the last two days. In the north-east district’s Seelampuri and in Jamia Nagar in the southeast, at least 28 vehicles were damaged and over 200 people, including students and security personnel, sustained injuries.
At the same time, however, the police has been blamed for using excessive force at Jamia Millia Islamia on Sunday. Experts also said Thursday’s protests were meant to be peaceful marches against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA.
JNU Students’ Union president Aishe Ghosh, who was present for the protest at Jantar Mantar, said that by imposing Section 144, the government is trying to suppress dissent.
“The government has shut down mobile network in the national capital and imposed Section 144 at so many places. Metro stations have been closed. It is shameful how they want to suppress any form of dissent. They want to turn the capital into Kashmir,” Ghosh said.
SEVERAL POLICE OFFICERS SAID THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME SINCE ANTI-SIKH RIOTS THAT PROHIBITORY ORDERS WERE ISSUED FOR SUCH A LARGE AREA