The Shaheen Bagh drama has finally come to an end after the Delhi Police cleared the area. After Section 144 was imposed in Delhi in the face of Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak, in the early hours of 24th March, Tuesday, the Delhi Police had first urged the protestors to clear the area and when they had refused to comply, protesters were detained and the area was cleared.
DCP of South East Delhi said, “People at the protest site in Shaheen Bagh were requested today to clear the site as lockdown has been imposed. But after they refused, action was taken against violators as the assembly was unlawful. Protest site has been cleared. Some protestors have been detained”.
DCP South East:People at the protest site in Shaheen Bagh were requested today to clear the site as lockdown has been imposed. But after they refused, action was taken against violators as the assembly was unlawful. Protest site has been cleared.Some protestors have been detained https://t.co/lVgXzL9WD6 pic.twitter.com/0uBdwGHKMw
— ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020
A video was then reported by ANI where the Delhi Police was seen clearing the area of the barricaded tent and stage that had been illegally constructed by the Shaheen Bagh protestors. In the video, it can be seen that the Delhi police had to use a bulldozer to clear the area.
#WATCH Delhi Police clears the protest site in Shaheen Bagh area, amid complete lockdown in the national capital, in wake of #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/N6MGLTLs5Z
— ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020
DCP Meena also said that there were male members also present at the Shaheen Bagh protest site and they had turned down Delhi police’s request to clear the area.
Interestingly, it was only last night that the protestors had vehemently said that no matter what, they would not clear the protest site. In fact, they had claimed that if Prime Minister Modi was worried about the spread of Coronavirus, he should withdraw CAA and NRC to ensure their safety.
In a Facebook page named ‘Shaheen Bagh Protest’, Muslim women who were protesting at Shaheen Bagh had appealed to the people of Delhi to come to Shaheen Bagh in “large numbers” to “protect Shaheen Bagh” as they had said that the Delhi Police was about to clear the area. However, it appears like nobody really turned up to “protect” the protest as they were concerned about their own lives with the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus.
Further, a Muslim man was heard saying last night that the Delhi Police can rain laathis on them, but they will not vacate the protest site. He said that the protestors will only move if the Supreme Court asks them to. In fact, the man in the video also said that more than the Wuhan Coronavirus, the protestors were scared of NRC and CAA. Additionally, the man in the video towards the end of his statement threatened with violence saying that if anyone comes to Shaheen Bagh ‘against the protest’, they will not be afraid to use their “hands and legs”.
Interestingly, their bravado seems to have been useless since after the imposition of Section 144 and the lockdown announced by the Central and State government, their congregation was deemed illegal and the Delhi Police moved in to clear the protest site.
Even the area near Jamia bears a deserted look.
There were some strange comments that had emanated from Shaheen Bagh after the clamour for the protest site to be vacated grew in the face of Wuhan Coronavirus spreading. One protestor had claimed that the Quran Sharif mentions Coronavirus and thus, nothing will happen to the protestors congregated there. Another protestor had claimed that the Wuhan Coronavirus itself is a ploy by Amit Shah to get them to vacate Shaheen Bagh.
Following the passage of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which speeds up Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities of the three neighbouring Islamic countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, violent protests had erupted in the national capital and other parts of the country. Following a call of Sharjeel Imam, the radical Islamist and JNU student who is currently arrested on charges of sedition, few women belonging to Muslim community sat on a protest at Shaheen Bagh. They blocked a bus stop and a main road causing severe problems to the public of Delhi. For about three months now, these so-called ‘protesters’ in Shaheen Bagh have blocked one of the busiest thoroughfares in the national capital in protest against the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
It is pertinent to note that a four-month-old infant, Mohammed Jahan, had lost his life after suffering from severe cold and congestion during anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh. However, Nazia, the mother of the four-month-old infant Mohammad Jahan, was unapologetic about her son’s death but instead has chosen to ignore his death and rejoin the ‘protests’ at the Shaheen Bagh.
A shocking video had also gone viral across social media platforms in which kids were seen holding posters of the four-month-old infant Mohammed Jahan who died at Shaheen Bagh. One of the protestors in the background had claimed that the death of the four-month-old kid was nothing but a ‘Qurbani’ or sacrifice for the anti-CAA movement
