Jaffarabad Protest: Around 200 women began the sit-in near the Jaffrabad metro station last night
New Delhi:
Protesters against the Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA, and a group supporting the contentious law clashed in northeast Delhi’s Maujpur this afternoon. The spot is near Jaffrabad, where a protest has been on since last night against the citizenship law. The trouble started this afternoon when local BJP leader Kapil Mishra decided to hold a rally in favour of the law. The situation is now under control, the police said, though the protesters are yet to disperse.
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Television footage from the spot showed protesters throwing stones at each other across a road, standing close to police barricades.
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There were reports that the police, who have gathered at the spot in large numbers along with para-military personnel, used tear gas to bring the mob under control.
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The police did not use force owing to the presence of a large number of women among the anti-CAA protesters.
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Demanding repeal of the citizenship law, around 200 women started the sit-in near the Jaffrabad metro station last night. They were seen carrying national flags as they shouted “Azaadi (freedom)” slogans amid heavy police presence.
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The crowd swelled overnight as more women and children joined them. “We want freedom from CAA, NRC,” said one of them. The metro station was temporarily closed this morning due to the protests.
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“This protest is prearranged by the opposition who were not able to defeat PM Modi. The law has been passed by the Parliament and protesting against it or promoting propaganda over it is wrong,” the BJPs’ Vijay Goel was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
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The protest at Jaffarabad is one of many mushrooming across the country, inspired by the women’s protest at Shaheen Bagh.
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Hundreds of women, young and old, have been staging a sit-in at Shaheen Bagh for over two months, blocking the road connecting southeast Delhi and Noida.
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The Supreme Court has appointed three interlocutors in an attempt to reach out to them.
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One of the interlocutors, Wajahat Habibullah, told theb court in an affidavit that there were five alternate roads in the area which were blocked by police and the allegation that the protest was inconveniencing traffic was not correct. The women, he said, have chosen the spot for safety, since they have been getting regular threats.