New Delhi: As the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus outbreak as a Pandemic which has caused a state of panic in the country, Shaheen Bagh agitators, who are staging protests since December 15, 2020, against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 and National Register of Citizens (NRC), have asked the government to provide screening set up at the protest venue.
In view of the coronavirus scare, the protestors have demanded sanitisers, masks for safety and hygiene purpose.
Shaheen Bagh protestors will hold a press conference on Delhi riots and will touch upon the issue of COVID-19.
Hundreds of people, mostly women, have been staging a sit-in at Shaheen Bagh for the last three months against the CAA and the NRC. However, reports said that of late the number of protestors has significantly reduced.
Several demonstrations have rocked the country since December 12 after the Modi government enacted the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019. The Act gives citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains, Christians and Buddhists, who migrated to India on or before December 31, 2014, from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In view of the coronavirus outbreak, the Centre and state governments have advised people to stay away from public gatherings and crowded places. Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have confirmed 75 confirmed COVID-19 cases in India. In order to address the coronavirus concerns, the government has issued helpline number 011-23978046. An Email ID has also been issued to address the COVID-19 queries- [email protected].
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on March 12, 2020, hit out at the Opposition for allegedly misrepresenting the CAA. The Home Minister blamed Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi’s “hate speech” as the reason behind the Shaheen Bagh protests.
