Shaheen Bagh protesters invite Narendra Modi, Amit Shah for CAA discussion, say 'braving chilly winters since 50 days, bewildered by apathy'

The protesters at Shaheen Bagh wrote peaceful messages on copies of the Preamble on Saturday, shortly before a man opened fire at the site which has been the epicentre of the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act since 50 days.

Under the campaign Tum Kab Aaoge (when will you come?), the messages were to be sent to the 311 Lok Sabha MPs who had voted in favour of the contentious Bill on 10 December last year. In some messages, protesters invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join them at Shaheen Bagh for tea and listen to their ‘Mann Ki Baat’.

In other texts, they expressed dismay over the government showing apathy towards the agitators. “It’s been 50 days since we have been sitting here with our children braving the chilly winters and immense hardships. We are waiting for you and we are bewildered by your apathy,” a message read.

At the protest event titled ‘Preamble from the people’, the oldest protesters, also dubbed as 'Dadis of Shaheen Bagh', held a massive 60 feet copy of the Preamble, and urged Modi to have a discussion with the people at Shaheen Bagh. Many said they had a grouse against the government for not considering them their own and asking them to prove citizenship in their own country.

The Preamble was also recited during the protest, both in Hindi and English, with a special focus on “the liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship” enshrined under it. “We are the sons and daughters of Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Savitribai Phule, and Kartar Singh. We are against NRC, CAA and NPR because they are unconstitutional,” a protester wrote.

The protest was organised by a group of volunteers Friends of Shaheen Bagh. In response to the questions about what the protesters want ‘azaadi’ (freedom) from, a protester said, “We want freedom for all the rights enshrined under the Preamble – the liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship.”

A similar event was also held on 19 January, during which over 2,000 postcards in Hindi, English, Urdu, and other languages were collected to be sent to the Prime Minister, a member of Friends of Shaheen Bagh told Indian Express.

On the same day as the event, firing was reported at Shaheen Bagh around 5 pm. The shooter was taken into custody and no injuries were reported. While being whisked away by the police, the man identified as Kapil Gujjar, was heard as saying, "Iss desh mein kisi ki nahin chalegi, sirf Hinduon ki chalegi. (In this country, no one but Hindus can have their say)." He told police that he was angry at the continuous protest and wanted to only scare them. Soon after, women formed a human chain at Shaheen Bagh.

The incident comes two days after a man shot during an ongoing protest near Jamia Milia Islamia despite a heavy police presence. A Jamia student, Shadab Najar, was injured in the firing. The gunman who is a minor, had shouted 'ye lo azaadi' as he shot at protesters marching towards Rajghat on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary.

Two such attacks within a span of three days have come shortly after Union Minister Anurag Thakur had passed provocative statements against anti-CAA protesters during a rally in Delhi. The Election Commission had imposed a 72-hour ban on Thakur for passing statements like ‘Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko’ (Shoot those who betray India).

With inputs from agencies

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FP Staff