Two groups clashed and pelted stones in northeast Delhi’s Maujpur area near Jaffarabad on Sunday evening, following which the police fired tear gas shells, reported PTI.
According to NDTV, the clash was between protestors for and against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act. Trouble started after local Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kapil Mishra decided to hold a rally in favour of the law, reported PTI.
Mishra asked the Delhi Police to clear the Jaffrabad and Chand Bagh roads in the capital within three days. He said “we are leaving the area peacefully” till United States President Donald Trump is in the country. Trump will be on a two-day visit to India from Monday. Earlier in the day, Mishra claimed that the fresh protests in Jaffrabad were proof of an experiment to destabilise the country by the opposition.
A group of around 500 people, mostly women, began a protest outside the Jaffrabad metro station against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens on Saturday night. The protest continued on Sunday, prompting the Delhi Metro authorities to close the entry and exit gates of two stations –Jaffrabad and Maujpur-Babarpur.
Senior Delhi Police officials said the stone pelting took place for a short period. “We brought the situation under control quickly,” Joint Commissioner of Police (eastern range) Alok Kumar told the Hindustan Times.
Heavy security has been deployed at the protest site, according to ANI. “Situation is under control now,” said Kumar. “But many people are on the street. We are continuously speaking to local leaders so that peace prevails in the area.”
A local cleric is in talks with the protestors to convince them to leave the site, India Today reported. The police are also part of the talks.
“This protest is against CAA, NRC and also seeking reservation for Dalits,” a protestor told News18. “The movement is primarily led by the women, while the men are only supporting them. We have blocked the road in order to protest and we will not move from the site till the Centre revokes the draconian law.”
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad had called a Bharat Bandh on Sunday to protest against the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this month that reservations in promotions are not a fundamental right. The bandh has also been called against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the NRC and NPR.
On Sunday morning, Azad retweeted a user who praised the protestors in Jaffrabad-Seelampur area. “It is still almost six hours to sunrise but the mothers and sisters of Seelampur have blown the bugle of Bharat Bandh,” the user had said. Azad will travel to Aurangabad in Maharashtra to encourage his supporters to enforce a nationwide strike.
Early on Sunday, Azad appealed to his supporters not to indulge in violence. He alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party will try to provoke his supporters, but added that they should not pay heed to the party.
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