Coronavirus: Kolkata's 'Shaheen Bagh' says sit-in will

The indefinite sit-in by about 50 women against the Citizenship Amendment Act at the Park Circus Maidan here will continue on Sunday, its organisers said, defying the call of Janata Curfew in wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

A spokesperson of the organisers, who have been holding the protest on the lines of Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, said on Saturday that they are taking all precautions such as keeping adequate sanitisers, wearing masks, maintaining a distance between one another and avoiding a large gathering in wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

"But there is no way we can lift the sit-in," the spokesperson said.

The protest can be withdrawn only when there is a positive development with regard to withdrawal of the "discriminatory new citizenship law" and dispel the sense of fear and insecurity among bonafide citizens of the country, she said.

Muzaffar Ali, a businessman and one of those attending the protest every evening, said it was discussed whether the sit-in will be withdrawn and it was decided there should not be any break in the agitation, which has been continuing since January.

He said the protests will continue and it will be ensured that there is no large gathering.

"Different NGOs and people of the neighbourhood and all over the city have been providing the sanitisers and other personal hygiene products and we will ensure the coronavirus guidelines are not flouted," he said.

Reacting to it, BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said that the protestors and their supporters should keep in mind the first and foremost job of every citizen now is to save the nation.

"These people should not forget the fact that all of us will survive only if the country survives. Our immediate job is to pass through the coronavirus crisis. Our immediate job is to go by the prime minister's call," he told PTI.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly urged people to avoid large gatherings but the state did not issue any directive for withdrawal of the protest. Trinamool Congress leaders and state ministers did not want to comment on the issue.