New Delhi: Braving the biting cold weather, hundreds of people gathered Friday outside the iconic Jama Masjid in Old Delhi to protest against the amended citizenship law (CAA). Congress leader Alka Lamba and former Delhi MLA Shoaib Iqbal were among those who joined the demonstrations.
Lamba hit out at the central government. She said ‘unemployment is the real issue in the county, but you (PM) are trying to put people in a queue for National Register of Citizens (NRC), as it was done during demonetisation’.
“It is very essential to raise the voice of democracy for the country and for the Constitution. A central government cannot become dictatorial and impose it agenda on people,” asserted Lamba.
The protestors, many of whom gathered after offering Friday prayers at the mosque, raised slogans against the new legislation and the proposed NRC.
“Is desh ko NRC, NPR nahi chaiye. Is desh ko rozgaar chahiye. Is desh ko aman aur shanti chahiye (This country does not need NRC, NPR, it needs jobs. The country needs peace and amity),” a protester said.
Meanwhile in another development hundreds of people with their hands tied were marching towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence to demand the release of Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad and to protest against the CAA, were stopped on the way by police.
Amid heavy security arrangement and drone surveillance, the protesters including Bhim Army members started from Dargah Shah-e-Mardan in Jor Bagh in the national capital and were stopped by police at a barricade en route the PM’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg.
They participated in the march with their hands tied, stating that they did it so that they could not be blamed for violence and arson during the protest.
“We have tied our hands and are protesting so tomorrow they do not attack us and lie that we were not protesting peacefully,” said Majid Jamal, one of the participants in the protest.
Aazad was arrested for allegedly instigating protesters to indulge in violence in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj in an inflammatory speech last Friday.
Agencies