New Delhi: The protests in the national capital turned fiery with a case of arson being reported from near Delhi Gate in Daryaganj area. What is indeed worrisome was the impunity with which protesters pelted stones and torched a car in front of a police station.
The police, too, showed little restraint as it allegedly detained women and children in the aftermath of the violence. According to several activists outside the police station, cops were not allowing even parents of the detained children or lawyers to go inside the station, citing law and order situation.
A woman named Aamna was looking for her son Akram but the police were not inclined to share the details of the detainees. It all started with lumpen elements among the protestors breaking the barricades and indulging in stone-pelting in a bid to march towards Jantar Mantar against police advice.
While the protesters were being pushed back, a private car parked was set ablaze. Some police personnel, including senior officers, were injured in stone-pelting that ensued.
Result: In the crackdown that followed around 40 persons were detained. As against this, earlier in the day, the Jama Masjid in the walled Old Delhi witnessed a very different narrative; there were peaceful protests after the Friday prayers.
The administration, of course, was on tenterhooks and had clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144; but neither that, nor the heavy police deployment, deterred the protesters from canvassing against the citizenship law.
Interestingly, some of the protestors carried the Tricolour and "Save the Constitution" banners. The protest turned violent after they were stopped at Delhi Gate, where the Delhi Police had put up barricades to block them.
The people were angry when they were not allowed to proceed further. That is when some of them resorted to arson. In the melee and the confusion that reigned, some protestors were able to scale the barricades and fan out in the area.
