The entry and exit gates of Jaffrabad metro station were closed on Sunday after an overnight protest by around 500 people, mostly women, against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens. "Entry & exit of Jaffrabad have been closed. Trains will not be halting at this station," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation tweeted.
Security Update
— Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (@OfficialDMRC) February 23, 2020
Entry & exit of Jaffrabad have been closed. Trains will not be halting at this station.
The women, carrying the national tricolour and raising slogans of 'aazadi', said they would not move from the site till the Centre revoke Citizenship (Amendment) Act. They tied a blue band on their arm and also raised 'Jai Bhim' slogans. There was heavy security deployment, including women police personnel, in the area.
The women have blocked road No. 66 which connects Seelampur to Maujpur and Yamuna Vihar. Traffic was also blocked due to the sudden protest at the site. The police were trying to talk to protesters to clear the road. A woman, who identified herself as Bushra, said till the time CAA is not revoked, the protesters will not leave the site. Social activist Faheem Baig said there is a resentment within the people against the way the government is handling the issue. Shamim Ahmed, a local cleric, was in talks with the protesters at Jaffrabad to persuade them to leave the site.
A protest is already going on near the main Seelampur road and Kardampuri against the amended Citizenship Act. The protest at Jaffrabad took place at a time efforts are being made to clear a road blocked by anti-CAA protesters at Shaheen Bagh. The protesters have been staging a sit-in at Shaheen Bagh for over two months, blocking the road connecting southeast Delhi and Noida.
The Supreme Court has appointed interlocutors in an attempt to reach out to the anti-CAA protesters.