Shaheen Bagh protests explained in 6 points

New Delhi, May 09: Protests erupted in Shaheen Bagh ahead of an anti-encroachment drive on Monday as hundreds of people including women started dharna in the area as soon as the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) officials reached the spot with bulldozers to carry out the exercise. The matter has been seized off by the Supreme Court.

1. Protesters raised slogans against the BJP-ruled SDMC as well as the central government and demanded that the action be stopped.
2. Shaheen Bagh that falls under the central zone of SDMC was the centre of protests and sit-ins against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December 2019.
3. The sit-in was called off in March 2020 when the covid-19 pandemic had struck the city.
4. "Our teams with bulldozers, trucks and police force have reached Shaheen Bagh to remove illegal encroachments there. Removal of encroachments is our obligatory function which we are carrying out," SDMC's Central Zone chairman Rajpal Singh told PTI.
5. Senior police officials, along with their personnel, were present at the spot to provide security to SDMC officials.
6. "Police personnel have been deployed at the spot where the anti-encroachment drive is being carried out. This is being done to ensure that the civic bodies concerned can carry out their work without any hassle and with all safety," a senior police official said.

(PTI)