NEW DELHI : On the eve of ‘Janta Curfew’, while several BJP leaders are making an appeal to the citizens to not come out during the period, autos and taxis will be off roads in the national capital as several unions have extended support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The dadis of Shaheen Bagh, meanwhile said, on the hundredth day of protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), that agitators will continue their agitation while taking all precautions to fight against the pandemic.
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said that PMModi has urged Janta curfew so that people stay away from contact with each other and to prevent the spread of epidemics like corona. “I request the same to the people, if it is not very important, then you stay at your home, do not go out, do not roam in your society, do not go for a walk in the park. This is not a ‘Janta curfew’, it is ‘Care for yourself’,” Mr Tiwari added.
Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, along with BJP MLAs Anil Vajpayee, Jitendra Mahajan and Ajay Mahawar, visited Mandi House Metro Station and appealed to the people to make the curfew a success by offering them a rose flower. They also distributed masks and sanitizers among the people. Other BJP MLAs Vijender Gupta, OP Sharma, Mohan Singh Bisht and Abhay Verma also campaigned to make the janata curfew a success in their respective areas.
Meanwhile, former Mayor of North Delhi and BJP Councilor Preety Agarwal too urged people to remain indoor and make “janta curfew” successful. She said, don’t go outside until it is very much needed. Stay inside your house and beat the Corona pandemic.
The autos and taxis will also be off roads in Delhi on Sunday as several unions have extended support to ‘Janta Curfew’. Several unions including the Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh, Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union, Delhi Auto Taxi Transport Congress Union and Delhi Taxi Tourist Transport Association, have decided to join the curfew from 7am to 10pm on Sunday.
General Secretary of Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh Rajendra Soni said all unions affiliated to the Bhartiya Majdoor Sangh will join the curfew. “We have appealed to all our members, including those of Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union, to refrain from taking out their vehicles during Janta Curfew on Sunday,” Mr Soni said.
A day before the observation of ‘Janta Curfew’, very few passengers were seen at Kashmere Gate Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT) and Railway stations in Delhi.
The women in Shaheen Bagh, which have become an epicenter for anti Citizenship law, have been on a sit in protest since mid-December. “We are offering namaz five times a day and regularly washing our hands. This protest will not end,” said one of the protesters.
The anti-CAA protest in Shaheen Bagh started on December 15 last year.
“Modiji, you still have time to revoke this black law. We want to spend our lives peacefully and let us do that. The country belongs to us. We were born here and will die here only,” one of the women said. Earlier, the protesters said they will continue their protest on Sunday, the day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged people to remain inside their houses under a self-imposed curfew.