Shaheen Bagh training suicide bombers, claims Indian minister

NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD: Union Minister Giriraj Singh has alleged that suicide bombers are being trained at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi which he said is part of the conspiracy plotted against the country.

“Shaheen Bagh is no longer just a movement. Here, suicide bombers are being trained. There is a conspiracy against the country in the country’s capital,” Giriraj Singh wrote on Twitter on Thursday, reported foreign media.

A protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (Act), in which a large number of women are participating, is underway at south east Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh area since mid-December.

In the run-up to Delhi Assembly election, BJP leaders, including senior ministers in the Narendra Modi government, have branded the Shaheen Bagh protest and protesters sitting there as anti-national group.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier trained his guns at protests at Shaheen Bagh, Jamia and Seelampur, saying it was not a coincidence, but an “experiment” and a political conspiracy to destroy the country’s harmony.

BJP MP Parvesh Verma had on January 28 said what happened in Kashmir with Kashmiri Pandits could happen in Delhi, warning that lakhs of anti-CAA protesters in Shaheen Bagh could enter homes to kill and rape women.

While the Congress leaders called it a democratic protest, Kejriwal when targeted by BJP leaders pinned the blame for continued sit-in at Shaheen Bagh on the Modi government. He accused the BJP of doing dirty politics on Shaheen Bagh and said the protest will end a day after Delhi votes on February 8. He said the BJP does not want the Shaheen Bagh protest to end before Delhi Assembly election.

Amid all this, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi expressed concerns that the central government may use force to clear the Shaheen Bagh stretch where an agitation has been ongoing for over 50 days against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The Hyderabad AIMIM MP further told news agency that the central government’s use of force might turn Shaheen Bagh into Jallianwala Bagh.

“Might be they will shoot them, they might turn Shaheen Bagh into Jallianwala Bagh. This might happen. BJP minister gave a statement to ‘shoot a bullet’. The government must give an answer as (to) who is radicalising,” Owaisi said.

Owaisi made these remarks in view of reports that the government might use force to clear Shaheen Bagh after February 8 Delhi to polls.

Further speaking about NPR and NRC, Owaisi said, “Government must give a clear cut answer that till 2024 NRC will not be implemented. Why are they spending Rs 3,900 crore for NPR? I feel this way because I was a History student. Hitler during his reign conducted census twice and after that, he pushed the Jews in a gas chamber. I don’t want our country (to) go in that way.”

It may be noted that senior officials of the Election Commission and the Delhi Police had on Wednesday inspected the Shaheen Bagh area and encouraged protesters to vote in the assembly polls due on February 8.

The Delhi poll body has put all five polling stations in the Shaheen Bagh area under the “critical” category. Shaheen Bagh, Khureji Khas and Hauz Rani are some of the sites in the city where protesters are opposing the amended citizenship law.