Hindustan Times (Noida)

Seelampur to Jamia, Def Col to Govindpuri: ANTI-CAA protests rumble on across Capital

- HT Correspond­ents htreporter­s@hindustant­imes.com ■

NEW DELHI: Protests against the Citizenshi­p Amendment Act (CAA) spilled out to many neighbourh­oods in the city with university students and residents coming out to gather in parks and streets against the amended law on Sunday.

At southeast Delhi’s Govindpuri, over 200 people gathered late afternoon to stand in solidarity with ongoing protests. The crowd largely included workers from the All India Traders Union.

Protesters sang the national anthem and read out the Preamble to the Constituti­on of India. “There are people from all strata of society including teachers, students and workers. A small group has been going across localities, urging people to come out and support the movement,” said Shakti, 30, who works with a trade union.

A banded perform songs of national unity and recited Faiz

Ahmed Faiz’s poem ‘Hum Dekhenge’.

“We plan to come back here. Workers have called a general strike against the economic slowdown, unemployme­nt and demanding the rollback of the CAA,” he added.

Defence Colony in south Delhi saw the first such demonstrat­ion in which students and residents from nearby colonies gathered at the Durga Puja park in the morning and sat with placards for over two hours. However, protesters said they were sitting peacefully, but the local RWA was against the protest and called the police.

“The students spoke well, explaining the meanings of CAA, NPR [National Population Register] and NRC [National Register of Citizens]. They just sat with posters and placards made by them and sang the national anthem. Some people from the RWA snatched placards from the students and asked us to leave. But we continued with the protest,” said Bhavreen Kandhari, a resident of Defence Colony.

Meanwhile, in northeast Delhi’s Seelampur, inspired by the women at the forefront of the indefinite sit-in at Shaheen Bagh, a group of women sat on a dharna in solidarity.

“We stand in solidarity with protestors at Shaheen Bagh. We salute their courage and bravery, and the women of Seelampur have not only come out in the support of the protesters, but also demand a rollback of the CAA. We also reject the proposal for a nationwide NRC,” 27-year-old Alfiya Javed, one of the organisers of the sit-in, said.

The women, many accompanie­d by their young children, raised slogans against the CAA and NRC and of “Azaadi”.

Parween, a 36-year-old woman with disabiliti­es, who had come to the sit-in with her 60-year-old mother said, “We elected this government. Why will we show our documents to them to prove our citizenshi­p now? Hindustan is for everyone, we will not leave it”.

Fearing action from the police, the protest — that was to take place on the Welcome Eidgah road — was shifted to the Seelampur fruit market, organisers said.

At the same time, the Jamia Coordinati­on Committee, which comprises both students and teachers, continued their protest against the CAA, NRC and NPR for the 24th day in the university.

According to a statement by the committee, hundreds of students and people from neighbouri­ng Okhla gathered at the protest venue and raised anti-caa slogans. The protest saw participat­ion of Congress spokespers­on Gourav Vallabh, who called these laws “anti-muslim” and claimed the policies of the Central government were “divisive”.

 ?? SANCHIT KHANNA/HT PHOTO ?? ■
Corporatio­n workers wipe out graffiti against the new citizenshi­p law drawn on footpaths after a protest.
SANCHIT KHANNA/HT PHOTO ■ Corporatio­n workers wipe out graffiti against the new citizenshi­p law drawn on footpaths after a protest.

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