India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 16— Shops and business establishments in Shaheen Bagh, Abul Fazal Enclave, Batla House, Jogabai and Zakir Nagar areas in Jamia Nagar remained closed for the entire day on Monday in protest against the police action on Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) students protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. More than 200 students were injured in police action in Jamia campus and many of them were injured seriously in police beating.
The locals showing solidarity with Jamia students over the CAA also held dharna on the busy Delhi-Noida highway, near Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh, blocking vehicular traffic. All the traffic from NOIDA to Delhi was diverted via DND flyover owing to the dharna at Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh.
On Sunday evening, the protest by Jamia students and local residents had turned violent with several buses and two-wheelers set on fire. There are conflicting reports about who actually torched vehicles. Following the incident, a huge number of policemen and CRPF personnel barged into the campus of the university and brutally assaulted students. The security men also fired teargas shells inside the library where students were studying. Locals and students also charged that some cops entered the mosque also and beat up students there. The students have been protesting against the new citizenship law that discriminates with Muslims on the ground of religion.
Residents of Jamia Nagar in Delhi offering prayers on road during protest against citizenship law on Dec. 16, 2019. (Photo – India Tomorrow)
To protest against the police action and citizenship law, residents in the Muslim-dominated neighbourhood of Jamia Millia kept their shops and offices shut down from dawn to dusk on Monday. They did it without any call by any political outfit or religious group.
There was very thin vehicular traffic on the internal roads in Jamia Nagar areas including Shaheen Bagh, Abul Fazal Enclave, Batla House, Zakir Nagar and Ghaffar Manzil. There was almost 100 per cent shut down in these areas.
To protest against the citizenship law and upcoming NRC updation, hundreds of residents blocked the Delhi-Noida highway near Shaheen Bagh-Kalindi Kunj bus stop.
The protesters included men and women, old and young.
Hundreds of residents of Shaheen Bagh in Jamia Nagar of Delhi blocked Delhi-Noida highway on Dec. 16, 2019. (Photo – India Tomorrow)
A local resident who identified himself as Wakil Johri said: “The mass has come out on the road for protection of their rights. They have come out to protest against the black law called Citizenship Amendment Act. This CAA or NRC is threat to Constitution and Hindu-Muslim brotherhood. The people want to protect the Hindu-Muslim brotherhood.”
Munsir Ali, an elderly person, charged: “Narendra Modi and Amit Shah want to remove us from this land and for this purpose they have brought CAA and NRC. We don’t have documents about grandfather and great grandfather.”
A student Mohsin Chuadhary said: “Amit Shah ji says constitutions of India’s neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan are based on religion but he himself is diluting the constitution of India which is secular. Through such laws, he is violating the Indian Constitution and its basic values.”
“We are protesting against Citizenship Amendment Act because it is targeting one community which is against Constitution and national unity and integrity. We are opposing it because we think the situation in the country will become worse day by day,” said a woman social activist.
During the protest, when it was time for Namaz, many of them were seen offering prayers on the road. They had blocked the road for general vehicular traffic but were allowing ambulances to pass through the road.
On the other hand, hundreds of students of Jamia and local residents demonstrated on road near the main gate of the university against the Sunday action of the police. They were demanding probe into the incident and action against the cops for entering the premises without permission and beating the students.
