Delhi: Women, who showed anti-CAA poster at Shah's rally, evicted
Two women living in a rented accommodation in Delhi's Lajpat Nagar were evicted, allegedly because they held anti-CAA and NRC poster when Union Home Minister Amit Shah passed through their house as a part of his door-to-door campaign on Sunday. One of them claimed a mob even attempted to storm inside their residence. Nevertheless, they don't have any regrets. Here's what went down.
In his address to BJP workers last week, Shah informed that the saffron party would knock on every door to spread awareness about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's schemes. This, BJP hopes, will help it unseat Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the national capital. The BJP President showed the way by visiting houses himself, but he met resistance for which he wasn't prepared.
Now, Shah, who spearheaded the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Parliament last month, has become the center of ridicule. The poster, which was made using implements at home, read "Shame Shah", "Not in my name" while CAA and NRC were struck off. The women were identified as Surya Rajappan from Kerala and Harmita from Uttar Pradesh.
A Resident of Lajpat Nagar 2 shouted 'We reject CAA" while union home minister #AmitShah was taking out a door to door campaign to spread awareness about #CAA2019 in the area today evening. pic.twitter.com/7aFb4KIYOI
— Fareeha Iftikhar (@Iftikharfariha) January 5, 2020
Defending the decision to protest against Shah, Rajappan said she would have failed her conscience by sitting idle. "My flatmate and I displayed a banner from our balcony, just as the rally led by Shah was passing through our lane. A conscious decision was made on our part to ensure that there were no derogatory words or phrases," she said.
Subsequently, members of the rally grew furious and shouted misogynistic remarks at them. "A mob of around 150 collected on the street below our apartment. The protest banner was torn and taken away. A group forced their way up the stairs which lead to our residence and threatened to break down the door if we did not let them in," Rajappan added.
Scared, the women decided to lock themselves in. But the ordeal continued as mob kept banging their door. "The common entrance which led to the stairway of our house was locked and bolted by our landlord, who was part of the angry mob, and we were trapped in the house and unable to leave," she said. They remained trapped for hours.
Around the same time, the landlord informed that they have been evicted. While their friends couldn't meet them, Rajappan's father managed to enter with a police officer. "After seven hours, the door of the stairway was unlocked and we were allowed to leave under the police protection. We packed our essentials and left," she went on. Notably, police recorded their statement against the mob.
When asked about what happened, the landlord replied, "They left the day after the anti-CAA banner was raised during Amit Shah's rally. They left with their parents and I have no clue where they are. It was an inconvenience to everyone." Further, the landlord, who didn't disclose his identity to IE, said he shouldn't have let the women "rent his house in the first place".
