‘The sole idea of our peaceful protest is to get CAA scrapped’.
New Delhi: Agitators protesting against the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Shaheen Bagh here will carry out a protest march on Sunday. The march will begin from Shaheen Bagh to reach the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) building at the North Block.
Ashoo Khan, one of the organisers of anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh, told The Sunday Guardian: “We have heard Home Minister Amit Shah repeatedly saying that he is willing to meet people over the CAA and NRC issues and thus we, all protesters of Shaheen Bagh, have decided to meet him at the Home Ministry. We will be marching peacefully to put forward our demand to scrap CAA.”
Asked by this reporter whether he has sought police permission for carrying out a protest march, Ashoo Khan said: “No, we have not taken any permission from the Delhi police. We are going to march peacefully; when Amit Shah has said that he has no problem in meeting people over CAA, I don’t think there is any need of taking police permission.”
Khan added, “We are going to hold a meeting at night to decide the course of action for tomorrow. Till now, what we have decided is that we will not send our delegation and, if allowed, we will request Home Minister Shah to meet all the protesters of Shaheen Bagh, not any particular delegation.” Ashoo Khan and many other protesters at Shaheen Bagh reiterated that they will not move an inch unless their demand of scrapping the CAA is met.
Rafi, another organiser member of the Shaheen Bagh protests, said: “We will be carrying out our peaceful march on Sunday and the onus is on Delhi Police and Home Minister to ensure the security of protesters, as in the past many attacks have already been carried out on the protesters and the same should not be repeated again.”
The protest site which was packed mainly with women agitators were being served fruits and water. Praveen Khan, a protesting woman at Shaheen Bagh, told The Sunday Guardian: “Our effort will not go waste: we have no affiliation with any political outfits or parties and the sole idea of our protest is to get CAA scrapped.”
Many entry points surrounding the Kalindi Kunj area are still blocked and daily commuters in the area have been expressing their dismay over the ongoing protests. Also, shops in the area are closed since the beginning of the Shaheen Bagh protests, but protesters seem unwilling to give up their protests.