A stand-off lasting for several hours, between Delhi Police personnel and protesters intending to march to the Parliament, took place on Monday near the Holy Family Hospital, as the hundreds who had gathered insisted on marching ahead.
The march to the Parliament called by the Jamia Coordination Committee saw hundreds of Jamia Milia Islamia students and locals participate even as the Delhi Police maintained that permission for the march had not been granted.
Soon after they were stopped near the Holy Family Hospital, protesters began climbing on the barricades which were placed near the hospital and were then dragged down by the force.
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Amid heavy deployment of security personnel, with several in riot gears, protesters continued sloganeering some also carried banners like “Where is Komal?”, a reference to the January 5 incident which took place at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) where a masked mob attacked students and faculty members.
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Continuing their movement against the CAA, protesters stood their ground and did not move despite repeated appeals from authorities including the JMI Chief Proctor Waseem Ahmad Khan.
“The message has been sent. Your protest has been registered. I appeal to the students in the crowd to go back to the University. Respect the law and go back,” Mr. Khan said.
During the stand-off, Delhi Police officials, perched on barricades themselves, continued appealing to protesters to return to Gate No. 7, which has been the epicentre of the anti-CAA protests in the area.
Towards late afternoon, the situation turned confrontational as security personnel tried to push the protesters back, while resorting to crowd control measures, who then resisted with some falling unconscious.
Khurshid, a middle-aged protester who was one of the people to be dragged out of the crowd said, “The police tried to hit me on my legs with lathis. We will continue protesting as we will not show our documents even if we have them. We are not ready to go anywhere.”
Shivangi Bhasin, another protester said, “I was on my way to Shaheen Bagh but came here after receiving a SOS message. It is really surprising that the cops are asking protesters to be peaceful while they are the ones being brutal. It is important for us to be present here in solidarity.”
Devesh Srivastava, Joint CP (Southern Range) said that the protest march called by Jamia Millia Islamia students was stopped near Holy Family Hospital. “Total nine students including two girls were detained and released after an hour. It all ended peacefully,” said Mr Srivastava.
He added that police has not sued any force on protesters. Protesters were only pushed back by security forces and prevented from climbing on police barricades.
As the crowd started swelling near the Sukhdev Vihar metro station, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) also closed entry and exit to the station.