Shaheen Bagh activist Shahzad Ali joins BJP; vows to hold talks with his community on CAA

In a major victory to BJP, Shaheen Bagh social activist Shahzad Ali joined the saffron party on Sunday in Delhi State BJP President Adesh Gupta & leader Shyam Jaju. Ali alleged that he had joined the saffron party to prove wrong those in the Muslim community who think 'BJP is our enemy'. He stated that he will sit together with his fellow community people and discuss their concerns over CAA.

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Shaheen Bagh activist joins BJP

Shaheen Bagh interlocutors submit sealed report to Supreme Court after 5 days of mediation

Shaheen Bagh mediation

After two months of protest, in February, Supreme Court appointed three interlocutors to persuade the Shaheen Bagh protestors on shifting the protest site. After five days of mediation, the two interlocutors- advocates Sadhana Ramachandran and Sanjay Hegde with the assistance of former Chief Information Officer Wajahat Habibullah submitted two amicus reports to the two-judge bench comprising of justices KM Joseph and SK Kaul stating that the protests against the CAA-NRC-NPR were peaceful and the police (UP and Delhi) have blocked five points around Shaheen Bagh. Before the Supreme Court could conduct any more hearings, the protests were disrupted by the Delhi riots and the nationwide COVID lockdown.

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Delhi riots

Days after the mediation reports were filed, clashes began between pro-CAA and anti-CAA groups as both camps resorted to stone-pelting on February 23 after Shaheen Bagh-like protests started in Jaffrabad and Chand Bagh. The situation deteriorated even as Delhi Police was present at the spot as houses, shops, and buses were burnt. While the Home Minister reviewed the situation on February 24  and 25 - while President Donald Trump visited India, the violence increased killing 53 and injuring over 400. Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Yamuna Vihar, Bhajanpura, Chand Bagh and Shiv Vihar are among the areas mainly affected by the riots. Two SITs constituted by the Crime Branch are probing into all FIRs.

Shaheen Bagh protesters set 7 conditions to interlocutor on fourth day of mediation talks

Shaheen bagh protests

Shaheen Bagh protests began on December 14 where thousands of people, including women and children camped on the streets have been a major poll controversy. Though PM Modi called it a 'political experiment', Congress and AAP supported the protests - offering biryani to the protestors. Inspite of the Shaheen Bagh Coordination committee calling off their part of the protests on January 2, citing politicizing of the protests, the protests against NRC and CAA continued mainly led by Muslim women, prior to the Delhi riots.