Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad (Photo Credit: ANI File)
New Delhi:
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad visited Delhi's Shaheen Bagh - the focal point of the protests against Citizenship Amendment Act - on Wednesday evening. Azad, who is out on bail after being arrested for his role in protests against CAA in old Delhi, issued a warning to the government saying there will be 5,000 more protest sites like Shaheen Bagh across the country in the next next 10 days. Chandrashekhar Azad extended his support to the women protesting against CAA and NRC and said he would travel across India to urge more women to "fight for the unity of India and "make every bagh (garden) a Shaheen Bagh".
"Ambedkar said women will lead. Today, when the Constitution is in danger, women are leading the country and fighting for it," Chandrashekhar Azad said in his speech. Azad declared the centre would have to "go over our corpses" if it wanted the law implemented. He said Shaheen Bagh reminded him of Jallianwala Bagh.
"We chased away white oppressors then. The time is now to chase away black oppressors," he said.
Addressing the massive gathering, the Dalit leader said the Citizenship Amendment Act is a "black law" that is dividing people on religious lines.
"I congratulate those who have participated in this protest. This is not just a political agitation. We have to save the Constitution and unity of the nation," he told the women who have been staging a sit-in against the CAA for more than a month now.
Azad said even the record-breaking cold has not been able to break the will power of the women.
The protesters, singing Faiz Ahmed Faiz's Urdu poem 'Hum Dekhnege' before Azad's arrival, got charged as he reached the venue.
Holding the Constitution, he said, "I promise you that in next days there will be at least 5,000 Shaheen Baghs across the country". His visit to Shaheen Bagh comes a day after a Delhi court modified the conditions imposed on him while granting him bail. He was arrested last month for giving "inflammatory speeches" during an anti-CAA protest at Jama Masjid.
The court allowed him to visit Delhi for medical reasons and election purposes. It also directed Azad to register his presence to the Station House Officer (SHO) of Fatehpur police station in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, every Saturday for four weeks and on the last Saturday of every month.
