New Delhi: The 20-year-old man who raised anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act slogans at Amit Shah’s rally in the Babarpur assembly constituency, has alleged that he was “pushed to the ground” by the crowd, according to a report in the Indian Express.Harjit Singh, who shouted “CAA waapas lo (Take CAA back)” in the middle of home minister Amit Shah’s address to the public meeting, said that he sustained minor injuries to his face, back and leg after he was “pulled from the back and pushed to the ground by people in the audience”. Singh also said that “some of them also grabbed chairs to hit me” and that he had not anticipated such a violent response from the audience.In a video of the incident that was later posted on social media, the youth is seen being attacked with chairs for raising anti-CAA slogans. Later, home minister Shah can be seen appealing to the security to intervene and then continues his speech by saying ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.The shirt Singh had worn on the day of the rally, which had “Indian” printed on it, was also torn and ruffled.He further claimed that he was taken directly to the police station and not to the hospital, even after he complained of pain and bruises. Singh also alleged that the Delhi Police tried to get him to write a letter saying that he was mentally unstable.Singh also said that, a day later, the Delhi police picked him up from his house in Sangham Vihar and took him to the police station and locked him up even though he had not committed any crime. “I wasn’t even informed on what charges I was locked up,” Singh said.Also read: Centre Will Not Go Back on CAA, Those Protesting Can Continue: Amit Shah“The police officers directed me to write a letter in which I was made to say I am not mentally stable and wasn’t aware of what I was doing. If I hadn’t written the letter, they would have not released me,” Singh, who is a BA second-year political science student from Delhi University’s School of Open Learning, told the Indian Express.Deputy commissioner of police (north east) Ved Prakash Surya refuted Singh’s allegations and claimed that the police had not taken anything in writing from him. “We rescued him and first took him to the hospital. After his MLC report, we verified his details and handed over his custody to his parents after calling them,” he said.Singh said that when he heard of Amit Shah’s rally, he felt it was the right opportunity to register his protest. “I was on my way to attend a protest in Seelampur and saw heavy police presence in Babarpur. When I asked the officers about it, they told me Shah was coming. I saw him and thought this was the right time to register my protest. Hum darte nahi, humein apni awaaz rakhne ka haq hai,” he said.As soon as home minister Amit Shah started to speak about the implementation of the CAA, Singh began shouting anti-CAA slogans. Thereafter Shah said, “Arey yaar le lo isko, security waale le jao isko… uss ladke ko zara salamat le jaayein aap, jaldi bahar le jao usko. (Security, take him away safely)”.The BJP leaders who were present at the rally denied having any information about the youth and whether he had been thrashed.“I was on the stage and heard Shah ji asking policemen to save the boy. But, there were many people there and it was difficult to determine what had happened,” a Delhi BJP leader present at the election meeting said.Also read: ‘We Feared for Our Lives’: Women Who Protested Amit Shah’s Lajpat Nagar Rally EvictedSingh said that he believed in “Bhagat Singh’s ideology” and for “standing up for humanity and what’s right”. “While bringing in CAA, the government should not mention specific religions but should rather say minorities,” he said.Previously as well, anti-CAA protests against Amit Shah’s rallies have prompted a frenzied response from his supporters.A few weeks ago, two women were evicted from their rented home in Lajpat Nagar for holding up an anti-CAA banner and protesting during Amit Shah’s rally in the area.In a statement later, one of the women said that members of the rally were agitated by their protest and a mob of around 150 persons proceeded to harass and intimidate the two women and threatened to break into their residence.
