Shaheen Bagh Protest Blockades Excessive And Planned? A Ground Report
Shaheen Bagh: Protesters towards the CAA have dug in on the locality in south Delhi for months
New Delhi:
The protests at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh towards the citizenship legislation and the Nationwide Sign up for Electorate (NRC), which become some of the rallying issues all through the sour Delhi election marketing campaign, whole two months the next day to come. Loads of girls and kids have been on a protest sit-in since December 15 on a very important highway that connects Delhi to Noida in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. Listening to a petition at the site visitors chaos on account of the protest, the Ideally suited Courtroom mentioned previous this week: “You can not block a public highway indefinitely.”
On each ends of the protest website online, there are heavy site visitors blockades. However has the management been over the top within the site visitors blocks and diversions, and is it planned?
NDTV tried to take on the blockade from each side, in Noida and in Delhi’s Sarita Vihar. There are 5 blockades round a protest that covers just a 150-metre stretch on a unmarried carriageway connecting Noida and Delhi.
Our first come upon with barricades used to be smartly inside of Noida. Roads had been closed at the flyover at some degree that used to be two kilometres from the protest website online.
Excluding slicing off Shaheen Bagh for site visitors, this blockade cuts off the most important get entry to highway from Jamia, Kalindi Kunj and an alternative course to visit Faridabad – all of which don’t have anything to do with the Shaheen Bagh protest and are at a distance the place site visitors can also be simply allowed.
On each ends of the protest website online, there are heavy site visitors blockades.
On digital camera, the policeman on responsibility requested us to get in contact together with his “seniors”. Senior Noida cops, at the situation of anonymity, admitted that requests for this extra blockade got here from the Delhi Police.
“They mentioned greater than the protest website online, they wish to steer clear of site visitors chaos round Kalindi Kunj (a south Delhi residential house). Which is why they have got advised us to prevent all site visitors from the UP access level,” a Noida police officer mentioned.
We determined to take the diversion and head to the site visitors restrictions at the different facet. After crossing the DND flyway, Ashram and hitting the Mathura Street – a well-liked course connecting Noida and Delhi — we reached the GD Birla highway on which the Shaheen Bagh protesters take a seat on a daily basis.
Curiously, at the Delhi facet, the blockade is minimum – from the purpose of the blockade, the protest website online is best 500-800 metres away.
It’s in this facet of the barricade the place Kapil Gujjar fired photographs within the air as he tried to method the protestors.
Policemen stationed right here mentioned except there is an emergency, no cars could be allowed thru. Ambulances, faculty trucks and fireplace engines are exceptions.
The protestors allege that the over the top barricades don’t seem to be an administrative however a political determination – to demonise the protest – by means of the Delhi Police, which reviews to the Union House Ministry led by means of Amit Shah.
“We now have many times recommended to the law enforcement officials learn how to divert site visitors for many who wish to cross to Faridabad. And for many who wish to shuttle to Sarita Vihar and Mathura Street. There were quite a lot of discussions on opening one a part of the GD Birla Street. However the police have at all times became down some of these requests,” Saleem, a member of the Shaheen Bagh Resident’s Welfare Affiliation, instructed NDTV.
“The design is beautiful transparent. They wish to undertaking us because the villains. They would like other people to suppose that we’re answerable for the large site visitors diversions even supposing our protest is proscribed to this website online. They would like all commuters to curse us and hate us for elevating our voice towards CAA (Citizenship Modification Act) and NRC (Nationwide Sign up for Electorate),” a protestor at Shaheen Bagh mentioned.
NDTV reached out to a minimum of 5 senior Delhi Law enforcement officials for a remark, however there was no reaction until now.
The petition looking for to take away the Shaheen Bagh protests to transparent up site visitors comes up for listening to within the Ideally suited Courtroom subsequent week.
