CAA protesters face off at Jafrabad
NEW DELHI: In north Delhi’s Jafrabad on Sunday, a wall of policemen was stationed between two protesting groups — one that was for the new citizenship law and the other against it. Just hours earlier, a few people had pelted stones at each other.
By Sunday evening, more than 1,500 police and paramilitary personnel stationed themselves at “strategic locations” in the neighbourhoods to prevent any further violence. Even as this was going on, police engaged in “continuous dialogue” with both groups in a bid to have them call off their agitation.
Alok Kumar, joint commissioner of police (Eastern range), said he was uncertain if the police’s efforts would lead to both groups vacating the road passing under the Jafrabad metro station.
This may throw the Monday morning traffic off gear. He, however, said that further violence was unlikely.
Kumar said that around 3pm, about 6,000 people protesting the citizenship amendment act (CAA), and about 4,000 in support of the law had gathered under the metro station. “At that time, only one carriageway was blocked,” he said. But from 4.30 pm, some people began pelting stones, leading to both carriageways being blocked.
In the next half hour, small groups had begun pelting stones in different parts of Jafrabad and Maujpur. “We used minimum force to contain the situation and disperse them,” said Kumar. The police also used their batons to “push back” the violent protesters, but Kumar said there was “no organised lathicharge”.
Kumar said he couldn’t comment on which protesting group pelted stones and who their targets were. While the number of civilians injured were unknown, Kumar said that at least three policemen were injured.
Once the situation was contained, the police went about attempting to ensure the violence did not start again. It began with the road under the Jafrabad metro station where about 2,000 anti-CAA protesters and about 500 pro-CAA agitators sat. “Our men stood between them. We are talking to them continuously to convince them to return to their homes or protest at another place,” said Kumar. With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra, issuing a three-day ultimatum to the police to clear the roads in Jafrabad and Chand Bagh, locals said the situation in the area is tense. Police are also speaking to religious leaders and influential citizens in these neighbourhoods in a bid to clear the road.
The absence of visible leaders among the anti-CAA protesters reduced the effectiveness of this dialogue process, he said.
In the neighbourhoods, meanwhile, groups of policemen have been deployed at specific locations which could possibly witness large gatherings or any kind of trouble.
GROUPS FOR AND AGAINST THE NEW CITIZENSHIP LAW HAVE BLOCKED THE ROAD BELOW JAFRABAD METRO STATION; MONDAY TRAFFIC MAYBE THROWN OUT OF GEAR