Farmers protest: Shaheen Bagh’s Bilkis Dadi turned away from Singhu border

New Delhi: Bilkis ‘dadi’, the octogenarian protester who was the face of the anti-citizenship law protests at Shaheen Bagh, was on Tuesday stopped from joining the farmers’ protests at outer Delhi’s Singhu border.

Bilkis, who featured in TIME Magazine’s list of 100 most influential people of 2020, said she had gone to the protest site to extend her solidarity to the protesting farmers who are demanding repeal of the Centre’s farm laws.

The 82-year-old had visited the Ghazipur protest site on Monday evening. Her son Manzoor Ahmed alleged they were detained at the Singhu border. “We wanted to visit the protest site but the police did not allow us. They detained us and drove us to Sarita Vihar before letting us go,” he said.

Police said some women tried to help her gain entry at the protest. Police had prior information and she was sent back in a police vehicle. Deputy commissioner of police (outer-north) Gaurav Sharma said she was not detained and was requested to go back keeping in mind security concerns.