Hundreds of women have been protesting at the Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act. (Photo Credit: Twitter)
New Delhi:
Chaos breaks out at south east Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh protest site on Tuesday evening when a man, claiming to have links with a political party, brandishing a pistol entered there and allegedly threatened the women holding a sit-in against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, according to eyewitnesses.
A video clip of the alleged incident which is doing the rounds on social media shows a gun-wielding man being overpowered by the protesters. According to Syed Taseer Ahmed, one of the protestors and a local, the man, who claimed to have links with a political party, climbed up the stage around 3 pm and threatened people to end the agitation. He was, however, overpowered by other protestors and taken away from the site.
Shaheen Bagh Official, a Twitter handle which posts updates from the protest site, wrote at 6 pm, "An official and urgent appeal from Shaheen Bagh: armed anti-social elements have entered the protest area. We fear that more right-wing groups could enter and launch an attack. We appeal to all to join the protest, strengthen our numbers and prevent any violence."
#SOSShaheenBagh
— Shaheen Bagh Official (@ShaheenBagh_) January 28, 2020
Two persons (one brandishing a pistol) entered the area where the women of Shaheen Bagh were sitting.
Threatened them to vacate the road or else "lashe girenge".
Citizens of Delhi. Shaheen Bagh needs you. Please mobilise.@IndiasMuslims @QutqutG @ImAbdy pic.twitter.com/LjRUZEPWLv
At 6.21pm, it tweeted an update. "Infiltrators have been caught and neutralised, and the situation is back to normal. However, we are on alert for more such incidents today and in the coming days as we reach elections in Delhi. Please reach Shaheen Bagh and sites across Delhi in large numbers".
Hundreds of women have been protesting at the Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The sit-in, which has been on for more than a month now, has received both support as well criticism. Its critics claim that the protestors have blocked the road, causing inconvenience to many, including students, motorists.
There have been other protest sites like Shaheen Bagh in the national capital as well as other parts of the country. The Delhi Police, which takes care of law and order in the national capital and comes under the Centre, has so far only made appeals to the protestors but that has not worked. In response to a plea, the Delhi High Court on January 14 did not order removal of traffic restrictions.
The court said no direction can be issued by it on how to handle an agitation or the place of protest and the traffic as it depended on ground reality and wisdom of police.
