It has been over a month since New Delhi’s Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch has turned into ground zero for the anti-CAA protests in the country. The 'women-led protest' has underwent several roadblocks including coldest winters in decades to charges of being sponsored and what not - only to emerge stronger!
Since the start of the protest, several false rumours were being spread on social media with even politicians calling the protest spot to be an 'mini-Pakistan' zone. A team of ABP News went to Shaheen Bagh to give its audience a reality check of the months-long agitation and put forth the demands of the protesters.
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While several media reports and social media forwards claim that Shaheen Bagh stir is anti-national and no media is allowed to step inside the protest zone, reporters of ABP News were welcomed by the protesters as they shared their demands and thoughts openly with our team.
With Assembly elections around the corner in national capital, Shaheen Bagh issue is very often picked by the political parties to blame their opponents. When asked about the same, a protester said: "We realize political parties are taking advantage of the situation here but what can we do? We only want the government to listen to us, why is it ignoring us? We are Indians and can't be discriminated."
Several political leaders and social media posts have claimed that protest at Shaheen Bagh is causing trouble to the entire city as demonstrators not even allow ambulances and school buses to pass through the area. However, even this claim turned out to be incorrect, as while our reporters were speaking to protesters, several school buses and vehicles passed alongside the protests zone.
"We make sure ambulances are not stopped and school children do not face any kind of difficulty. We are protesting peacefully but it's BJP leaders who make communal remarks and defame us," said Wasim Ansari, a demonstrator present at the protest site.
On the question of who is funding the entire protest and how do protesters get food supply, women protesters said that many of them bring food from their own houses. These women were even kind enough to offer food to ABP News team and even asked our reporters to stay for a longer time and see how peaceful and constitutional the protest is.
"We do not know where the funds come from to feed people here. But whoever wants to come here can get a meal. This means the almighty is blessing us," said another protester.
Every night, a few thousand people gather at the heart of South Delhi district to protest against an act of government, which they feel will do more harm than good. Indian flags can be seen fluttering everywhere - from center stage to sideways to staircases and also atop two telephone towers installed at the Noida side of the protest stretch.
The protest at Shaheen Bagh began with the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December last year and the ensuing police intervention against students at Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on December 15. Growing in size by the day, the stir has now become the longest ongoing protest against CAA-NRC-NPR, triggering similar movements in different parts of the country.
To the question of what course will the Shaheen Bagh protest takes from hereon - one will have to wait and watch. But surely the buzz created by this unusual months-long sit-in demonstration will rumble in our minds for a long time.
(With inputs from Gyanendra Tiwari and Shrivardhan Trivedi)