Braving freezing cold, hundreds of protesters spent hours squatting on a frosty road near Sunehri Masjid in Old Delhi on Thursday after being pushed back by police from the historic Red Fort.
The cold, the season’s most severe, and police restrictions on assembly of a large number of people could not deter the protesters, who shouted slogans, sang and recited couplets on freedom, secularism, and unity.
At Sunehri Masjid, a huge posse of police personnel prevented the protesters from moving forward. Those who came by bus were detained.
Tricolour and posters of all sizes and colours filled the Shantivana Road as people in the houses along the road watched from their windows.
While some posters opposed the amended Citizenship Act and the NRC in large bold letters in red and black, some took a dig at the government in the form of couplets.
When police urged the protesters to disperse or move to Jantar Mantar, they said they won’t till their colleagues were released.
Security personnel in riot gear stood on the road sides throughout the protest and used drones to monitor it.
