NEW DELHI: As the Shaheen Bagh agitation, which has become the symbol of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests, completes a month today, a collective request was made through a letter to the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind and Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde to abrogate the contentious Act.
The letter which had been circulated among the protesters for collecting signatures on Tuesday also had name and address sections added to it. The subject of the letter is: "Request to abrogate recently enacted Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019."
Calling the CAA "arbitrary" and "unconstitutional", the letter draws the attention of the two constitutional heads on how the newly introduced law "violated Article 14 and 15" of the Indian Constitution. "While Article 14 deals with equality before the law, Article 15 declares that the state cannot discriminate between citizens on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex, and also place of birth," the letter said.
"This Act (CAA) is unconstitutional. It has the potential to endanger national unity and pluralism. The central government by its majority is ruining the ethos of the Constitution and leading the country towards anarchy and division," the letter reads.
Sunday witnessed the largest gathering at Shaheen Bagh where religious prayers were observed showcasing unity and diversity of the country and solidarity among the citizens, irrespective of their religion.
Meanwhile, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Subhash Chopra asserted that the Congress party will also continue to oppose the CAA. Chopra said that if any kind of force is applied on the peaceful agitation by women at Shaheen Bagh and students at Okhla, the Congress will oppose it.
Women of Shaheen Bagh gathered to protest against the CAA (left), an art installation at the protest at Shaheen Bagh on Tuesday (above) | shekhar yadav
'Won’t use force but will clear space'
Addl DCP (South-East), Kumar Gyanesh said that consultations were on for about 20 days. "Consultations are on for 20 days. Persuasion is not a new phenomenon," he said adding that police had been trying to convince the protesters to return home.
"We have held 25 meetings with the RWA. We are not going to use force but find a way of clearing out the space as they can’t protest on roads. The protest has to take place at a designated place," he said, adding the police would conclude the next course of action in a day or two.