Several activists on Friday called for human chains, fasts and the lighting of lamps outside homes on Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary, January 30, in protest against the new citizenship regime.
Swaraj India’s Yogendra Yadav told a news conference: “January 30 is when Mahatma Gandhi was gunned down by Nathuram Godse, and the day is known as Shaheed Divas or Martyrs’ Day. People from different spheres including students’ unions, the Shaheen Bagh protesters and many more will hold marches against the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and the NRC (National Register of Citizens).”
N. Sai Balaji, president of the CPIML Liberation-backed All India Students’ Association, said that a human chain was being planned near Rajghat.
Several organisations including Left outfits and civil society and community groups have come together for the protests under the banner of “Hum Bharat ke Log” (We, the People of India).
A statement said: “In collective activities (1) everyone would be invited (2) special attempt would be made to include women and children (3) no flags would be displayed other than national flag (4) no speeches or slogans would be made and (5) no negative or aggressive banners/ placards would be displayed.”
At Shaheen Bagh, the tents of community kitchens were removed earlier in the day, allegedly under police pressure.
“This morning, the police removed our tent saying it won’t be allowed on the road,” D.S. Bindra of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, who runs a langar (free community kitchen) at the site, told The Telegraph.
“I was taken for questioning for a while. We have moved the langar off the road, but it will continue. Sikh brothers have also started a langar at the women’s dharna in Kureji.”
The police said that any withdrawal by the protesters (such as shifting the kitchen) was voluntary.
“They themselves are doing it, which is appreciable. It (claims of police action) is false propaganda… as part of the strategy to mobilise people,” said deputy commissioner of police (southeast) Chinmoy Biswal.
The police filed an FIR against unnamed Shaheen Bagh protesters for allegedly intimidating a team of journalists and snatching a camera. A TV anchor had been heckled at the protest site.
People also protested at the nearby Jamia Nagar police station, where former Congress MLA Asif Khan and others had been summoned for questioning on the violence during an anti-CAA protest outside Jamia Millia Islamia on December 15.
Several students had been injured when the police went on the rampage on the Jamia campus on December 15.
A group of women began a sit-in at south Delhi’s Hauz Rani area on Thursday night. Dharnas by women are also on at Seelampur and Kureji, where several attempts by the Delhi police to evict them have been resisted so far.
