Hundreds of police in riot gear surrounded the protesters early on Tuesday and told them to leave, said Delhi's joint police commissioner DC Srivastava. "It is a dangerous environment, with this coronavirus, we urged them to leave," he told reporters. Television showed police taking down tents and billboards at the protest site with bulldozers. Critics say the law discriminates against Muslims and it has deepened concern that Modi’s administration is undermining India’s secular traditions. Even before the coronavirus epidemic, the protest at Shaheen Bagh had become a thorn in the government's side, and there had been calls by hardline Hindu groups linked to Modi's alliance and residents in the area to clear it out.

Source: bd News24 March 24, 2020 04:18 UTC