Mumbai Bagh protesters withdraw stir

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, March 23

Protesters against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens at Nagpada, known as Mumbai Bagh, have withdrawn their sit-in in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

They said in a statement released late last night that they were pausing their protests. Earlier, representatives of the Maharashtra Government held talks with community leaders.

“All protesters at Mumbai Bagh are withdrawing due to the epidemic and Section 144 in the state. We are equally willing to stop the spreading of coronavirus by avoiding mass gathering at the protest site,” Rubaid Ali Bhojani, a spokesperson for the protesters, said in a statement released online.

“We may have a difference with the government on the CAA, the NRC and the NPR but we are with the government to fight against Covid-19,” the statement added.

The women resolve to resume the protests after the Covid-19 outbreak is contained. The protests in Mumbai, which were inspired by Shaheen Bagh, started on January 26 with several women taking turns to sit on the Mumbai street.