New Delhi: Was Shahzad Ali an active protester of Shaheen Bagh? Was he heading the protest which continued for three months in any position? Those who were part of the protest are rejecting the claim.
BJP Delhi unit on Sunday announced that nearly 200 people belonging to Muslim community have joined the party. They reside in Shaheen Bagh, Okhla and Nizamuddin areas. One among them is Shahzad Ali, who is being called a key activist of Shaheen Bagh.
Following BJP’s claim, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in a press conference claimed that Shaheen Bagh protest was sponsored by BJP.
But the question is whether Shahzad Ali was actually a key activist of Shaheen Bagh? Kahkashan, who was part of the protest since its beginning, says though Shahzad Ali was one among the several volunteers who had joined the protest but he was self-styled security volunteer. She says ‘I was part of the protest since its beginning but I never met Shahzad. Not many of the people who were part of the protest know Shahzad.
Another regular Shaheen Bagh protester Ritu Kaushik says ‘I was there from the beginning and was in charge of the stage, but Shahzad never used to come regularly. There no one knows him. I never saw him on stage and now he is being called a key activist, she wondered. She asserted that the protest was initiated by the women and women themselves played key role in it. She noted that there is no importance in the fact that a man attended the protest occasionally has joined any political party.