Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, which was at the centre of anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests, saw protests once again on Monday – this time against the administration’s “anti-encroachment drive” in the neighbourhood.
Hundreds of people including women started protesting in the area as soon as the BJP-ruled South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) officials reached the area with bulldozers to carry out the exercise.
Protesters raised slogans against the administration as well as the central government and demanded to stop the action.
AAP MLA from Okhla, Amanatullah Khan, also joined the protests at Shaheen Bagh. “People have already removed encroachments on my request. ‘Wazu khana’ and toilets outside a mosque here were removed in presence of police, earlier. When there are no encroachments, why have they come here? Just to do politics?” Khan was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Our teams with bulldozers, trucks and police force have reached Shaheen Bagh to remove illegal encroachments there. Removal of encroachment is our obligatory function which we are carrying out, SDMC’s Central Zone Chairman, Rajpal Singh told PTI.
Meanwhile, a petition challenging the demolition drive in Shaheen Bagh was mentioned before the Supreme Court on Monday, LiveLaw reported. The chief justice of India asked the petitioners to mention the matter before Justice L N Rao’s bench, which had considered the matter of the Jahangirpuri demolition drive on 20 April.
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