New Delhi, December 1
Bilkis Dadi, the octogenarian who was the face of the protest against the anti-citizenship law for months in the national capital and who was featured in Time magazine, was detained on Tuesday by Delhi police personnel at the Singhu border, where Thousands of farmers have been demonstrating against the center’s new farm laws, officials said.
Bilkis, popularly known as Shaheen Bagh Dadi, had expressed her willingness to join the farmers’ protest on the Delhi-Haryana border in Singhu.
Shortly after arriving at the border point to extend her support to the agitated farmers, she was stopped by Delhi police personnel at the border.
Deputy Police Commissioner (Outer North) Gaurav Sharma said: “She is an elderly person and due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, we stopped her at the Singhu border and asked her to return for her own safety and improvement.”
“To avoid any inconvenience to her, she was escorted by the police team to her home in southeast Delhi,” he said.
Bilkis rose to fame last year during the months-long protest against the citizenship law in Shaheen Bagh here and was also recognized by the American weekly Time as one of the 100 most influential people of 2020 along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bollywood actor Ayushman. Khurrana.
During the protest that began in December last year, the 82-year-old sat under a tent with hundreds of women and children, braving the extremely cold weather. It emerged as the face of the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Registry of Citizens.
The protest in Shaheen Bagh ended in March this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. – PTI
