200 Sikh protesters held for agitating near Parliament
7 May 2013 5:01 PM IST
Around 200 Sikh protesters were yet again detained on Monday near Parliament House, after they blocked the high-security Vijay Chowk for over an hour in the morning. The agitators were protesting against the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
‘The protest continued for about an hour, starting from 10.50 am. We arrested about 200 protesters from Vijay Chowk, but let them off later. We had no prior information about the protest,’ said deputy commissioner of police, S B S Tyagi.
Raising slogans against the government, the protesters marched to Vijay Chowk, a crucial crossroad between the Parliament House complex and the North and South blocks that house the prime minister’s office and the home, defence, finance and foreign ministries. The road also leads to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The protesters created a major traffic snarl, at Race Course Road in the morning and traffic was reduced to a crawl at places like Parliament Street, India Gate, Raisina Road, Rajpath and Sansad Marg. These roads were later blocked by the police as they lead to India Gate, where the protest was concentrated.
‘Police blocked movement to India Gate and Raisina Hill, which had seen the main scuffle between security forces and protesters on Sunday,’ said a police officer.
Several members of the Parliament had to walk to the Parliament House building. The intensity of the protest took the police by surprise, as the protesters came in small groups.
‘Even after 30 years of the riots, we are yet to get justice. The government should be ashamed. We will never forget and forgive those who allowed the culprits to get free. We want justice,’ said one of the protesters.
‘We were informed about a protest march from Gurudwara Rakab Ganj to Jantar Mantar in central Delhi. We never expected a protest near the Parliament,’ explained Tyagi.
Sikh groups have been protesting at Jantar Mantar since Friday, demanding justice for the riot victims and stringent punishment for Sajjan Kumar. Kumar was acquitted by a city court on 30 April in a case related to the killing of five people in the Delhi Cantonment area during violence against Sikhs following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on 31 October,1984. The court convicted five others in the case.
‘The protest continued for about an hour, starting from 10.50 am. We arrested about 200 protesters from Vijay Chowk, but let them off later. We had no prior information about the protest,’ said deputy commissioner of police, S B S Tyagi.
Raising slogans against the government, the protesters marched to Vijay Chowk, a crucial crossroad between the Parliament House complex and the North and South blocks that house the prime minister’s office and the home, defence, finance and foreign ministries. The road also leads to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The protesters created a major traffic snarl, at Race Course Road in the morning and traffic was reduced to a crawl at places like Parliament Street, India Gate, Raisina Road, Rajpath and Sansad Marg. These roads were later blocked by the police as they lead to India Gate, where the protest was concentrated.
‘Police blocked movement to India Gate and Raisina Hill, which had seen the main scuffle between security forces and protesters on Sunday,’ said a police officer.
Several members of the Parliament had to walk to the Parliament House building. The intensity of the protest took the police by surprise, as the protesters came in small groups.
‘Even after 30 years of the riots, we are yet to get justice. The government should be ashamed. We will never forget and forgive those who allowed the culprits to get free. We want justice,’ said one of the protesters.
‘We were informed about a protest march from Gurudwara Rakab Ganj to Jantar Mantar in central Delhi. We never expected a protest near the Parliament,’ explained Tyagi.
Sikh groups have been protesting at Jantar Mantar since Friday, demanding justice for the riot victims and stringent punishment for Sajjan Kumar. Kumar was acquitted by a city court on 30 April in a case related to the killing of five people in the Delhi Cantonment area during violence against Sikhs following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on 31 October,1984. The court convicted five others in the case.
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