Child rights body seeks report on Shaheen Bagh protest

New Delhi: Two days after the Delhi government announced a ban on all gatherings of more than 50 people to contain the Covid-19 epidemic, the National Commission

New Delhi: Two days after the Delhi government announced a ban on all gatherings of more than 50 people to contain the Covid-19 epidemic, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has asked the District Magistrate of South East Delhi to take action and submit a report over the continuing protests at Shaheen Bagh.

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced that all social, cultural, political, religious, academic, sports, and family gatherings of over 50 people have been barred, the only exceptions being weddings. Following this, protesters at Shaheen Bagh reduced the strength of their gathering yet continued their protest.

On Wednesday, the commission said it had received a complaint regarding assembly of people including children and infants at Shaheen Bagh. “You are kindly requested to take necessary action in view of the advisory issued by the state government and the Union government regarding safety and prevention from Covid-19 and submit a report to the commission within three days from the date of issue of this letter,” NCPCR wrote in its letter.

Protesters, however, said they were taking all precautions. “We are ensuring that young children or their mothers do not come to the protest. We have reduced the strength of our gathering to 40-45 and have asked volunteers to keep an eye out for such women (mothers with their children) and send them away if they come,” said Hena Ahmed, a protester, who left Delhi after CM’s announcement on Monday.

Since December 16, 2019, protesters at Shaheen Bagh have blocked arterial road no. 13 A, which links South Delhi to Noida, to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act.