Officials unsuccessfully ask Shaheen Bagh protesters to call off sit-in

A day after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a ban on gatherings of more than 50 people in the National Capital Territory (NCT), government and police officials

A day after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a ban on gatherings of more than 50 people in the National Capital Territory (NCT), government and police officials visited the Shaheen Bagh protest site to convince protesters to call off their indefinite sit-in agitation. Since December 15, 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.

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Joint commissioner of police (southern range) Devesh Chandra Srivastava said the local assistant commissioner of police (ACP) and station house officer (SHO) held a meeting with a group of protesters and locals. In the meeting, the protesters were informed about the coronavirus outbreak and the government’s ban on gathering of 50 or more people.

“The talks lasted for almost an hour, but did not yield any positive result. We have been holding meetings with the Shaheen Bagh protesters and engaging locals as well. We will continue having similar talks and try to convince the agitators to call off their protest,” Srivastava said.

Following the government directive, protesters said they have reduced the strength of the gathering to 49 and introduced hygiene measures at the sit-in site. “Officials had come to the first barricade along with some members of the Residents Welfare Association to request we call off our protest. We requested them to come to the protest area and speak to everyone there. They did not agree and left soon after,” said Shaheen Kausar, one of the organisers of the protest.

“The officers refused to go the protest site as they had apprehensions about a possible confrontation,” a police officer said on the condition of anonymity.