‘Continuous attacks won’t deter us, we’ll continue our protest’: Shaheen Bagh agitators

Saturday’s firing at Shaheen Bagh took place within 48 hours of a similar incident being reported from Jamia Millia Islamia, where a man had fired bullets at a group of students protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on Thursday.

Tension and anger ran high among protesters at Shaheen Bagh on Saturday, after a man opened fire near the protest site where hundreds have been gathering everyday, since December 15, 2019, to protest against the amended citizenship act.

Protesters form a human chain during the ongoing protest against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR), at Shaheen Bagh, in New Delhi, Saturday, February 1, 2020. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

The protesters blamed the Delhi Police for not being able to provide safety to them and vowed to continue their agitation despite “continuous attacks.”

Saturday’s firing at Shaheen Bagh took place within 48 hours of a similar incident being reported from Jamia Millia Islamia, where a man had fired bullets at a group of students protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on Thursday. A 22-year-old student was injured in the incident.

Earlier on Tuesday, a man carrying a pistol had been nabbed by protesters at Shaheen Bagh.

According to eyewitnesses on Saturday evening, three persons entered the protest site crossing barricades installed near Jasola traffic signal. “One man walked in and started raising slogans and fired three shots in the air. The police didn’t come forward to stop him till the third shot was fired. We saw the attacker pointing his weapon directly towards the protesters. Hundreds of men, women and children were present there. Who would have taken responsibility if anyone had been hurt?” said an eyewitness requesting anonymity.

Questioning Delhi police’s “inaction”, a group of protesters gathered around the police barricades later on Saturday evening and raised slogans against the cops. Noor Jahan, mother of four and homemaker, said, “How can they (the police) allow people to enter with weapons? The police are here for our safety and yet gunmen are entering with weapons with the intention of wanting to hurt us. The same thing happened in Jamia and there too police stood and watched as a student was shot at and injured in broad daylight.”

Kausar Bi, who has been there at the protest site from Day One, said, “Such attacks are happening because BJP leaders are provoking people against us. They are targeting Shaheen Bagh protesters every now and then and making people shout slogans like ‘goli maro…..”

Earlier this week, BJP MP and minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur at an election rally in Rithala, called out a chant of “desh ke gaddaron ko...” asking the audience to finish it, which they did with “goli maaro saalon ko”.

Later in the evening, some protesters assigned volunteers around the barricades to check the identity cards of visitors. Abid Sheikh, a volunteer at the protest, said, “It’s natural that we will do something for our own security. We are verifying the identity of each and every visitor before they enter the protest site.”