AFTER 101 DAYS: DELHI POLICE CLEAR SHAHEEN BAGH
NEW DELHI: Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh — heart of protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act — was cleared on Tuesday morning by Delhi police after 101 days. This was the longest sit in protest in the country so far.
Senior police officers with their team and paramilitary reached the site of the protest — which had inspired simi
lar demonstrations across the country — at around 7 am. The clearing of the protest started soon after the women were asked to move.
“People at the protest venue in Shaheen Bagh were requested to vacate the site as
lockdown has been imposed due to Coronavirus outbreak.we had cleared the protest site and have opened the road after persuasion failed,” said RP Meena, DCP South East Delhi.
Large gatherings have been banned under Section 144 over COVID-19. Nine people, including six women and three men, have been detained.
Some people did gather in the lanes after the police action but were asked to disperse by the cops. Some locals also asked the public to disperse and move to their homes.
The temporary structures at Shaheen Bagh including a replica of India Gate and detention center and the 35 feet Indian Map has has also been removed. JCB was used to remove the tent and the stage.
“The road 13 A connecting Delhi with Noida cleared and opened,” tweeted the Delhi Police traffic handle.
What followed was whitewashing the graffiti and wall paintings at both Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia Islamia walls. Jamia students have already ended their protest some days back.
On Sunday, during the ‘Janata curfew’, only five women were at the site while others had left their slippers as a symbol of solidarity. Sanitisers were used at the protest site and the women sat meters away from each other. On the same day, a chemical bomb was hurled at the protest site by a biker.
Meanwhile, other anticaa protest in Jafrabad, Inderlok, Hauz Rani, Eidgah, Turkman Gate have also been removed and people asked to go home.
The protesters at Shaheen Bagh began their sit in on December 16 after the police crackdown on Jamia Millia students on December 15.
Later the Supreme Court appointed Interlocutors to convince the protesters mostly women to vacate the road but several meetings did not find any result and the protesters were adamant that untill CAA and NRC is rolled back they are not going to move from the protest site.
We had cleared the protest site and have opened the road after persuasion failed