New Delhi, Dec 19 (PTI) Braving freezing cold, hundreds of protesters spent hours squatting on a frosty road near Sunehri Masjid in Old Delhi on Thursday after being pushed back by police from the historic Red Fort.
The cold, the season's most severe, and police restrictions on assembly of a large number of people could not deter the protesters, who shouted slogans, sang and recited couplets on freedom, secularism, and unity.
Mohammad Kazim, an organiser, said protesters came in buses and by foot.
At Sunehri Masjid, a huge posse of police personnel prevented the protesters from moving forward. Those who came by bus were detained. The others decided to start the protest here around 11 am, Kazim said.
Tricolour and posters of all sizes and colours filled the Shantivana Road as people in the houses along the road watched from their windows.
While some posters opposed the amended Citizenship Act and the NRC in large bold letters in red and black, some took a dig at the government in the form of couplets.
One of the posters read: "Ek kursi jaroor jeet gaye. Tumne Hindustan haar diya (You may have won one more seat, but you have lost India)."
A girl held a poster that underlined the secular status of the country. "We rejected an Islamic state in 1947, now it's your turn to reject a Hindu Rashtra," it read.
Another poster carried the words of Urdu poet Wasim Barelvi -- "Usoolon pe jahaan aanch aaye takrana zaroori hai. Jo zinda ho to phir zinda nazar aana zaroori hai."
When police urged the protesters to disperse or move to Jantar Mantar, they said they won't till their colleagues were released.
Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav spoke to the organisers over the phone and urged them to come to Jantar Mantar, but the protesters didn't budge.
"Politicians are diluting our protest. Our goal was to protest at Red Fort and no one is willing to go anywhere else," said Abid Ahmed.
Security personnel in riot gear stood on the road sides throughout the protest and used drones to monitor it.
As soon as a drone took to the air, the sloganeering, claps and cheers grew louder.
Students from various universities and students' organisation addressed the gathering. Some police personnel were seen recording their speeches.
The shops on the roadside remained closed and houses locked.
In between the protest, around 3.45 pm, a brick came flying from one of the houses, prompting police to enter the buildings.
The protest was called off around 6 pm with the protesters resolving to gather at Jama Masjid on Friday for a march called by Bhim Army leader Chandrashekhar Azad.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)