More than a 100 days after it all started, The Shaheen Baug protest site, where hundreds and thousands of women sat to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA 2019), has been cleared by the Delhi Police amid Delhi Lockdown over Coronavirus.
Shaheen Bagh has not only been the inspiration to other major sit-in peaceful protests, led by women, all around the country but also endured threats, major attacks and survived. Recently, during the times of social distancing, triggered by the CoVid-19 pandemic, the Shaheen Baug women made adjustments. They reduced in numbers and made alterations to the site to meet sanitary requirements. Still, in the wee hours of Tuesday the 24th March, they were removed from the protest site forcibly. According to some protesters, there were thousands of police officials who threatened to arrest them if they didn’t disperse. Complaints of protesters being forcibly removed by male officials, have also emerged.
Interestingly, after clearing the protest site, Delhi Police dismantled all art installations, and graffitis around Shaheen Baug and Jamia Millia Islamia. In similar manner, other protest sites like Hauz Rani and Turkman Gate where the protests were called off earlier due to the coronavirus scare, the police dismantled all structures.
Even though the Supreme Court issued a statement saying that the fight against Coronavirus should be the priority and appealed to the administration and the protesters not to do anything further that will aggravate tensions, the prompt action to steer clear of all materialistic reminders of countless protests and agitation over the last four months is ominous and makes one wonder if the Government is scared of the rise of the protests again, post the CoVid-19 Pandemic.