A day after the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha, facing raging opposition from Opposition parties and the Waqf Board, police forces are on high alert in Delhi-NCR with possible protests looming over the region, officials said Thursday.
The Delhi Police and paramilitary forces carried out a joint flag march in the Jamia Nagar and Saheen Bagh areas. “We have deployed sufficient forces to respond to any emergency situation. Preventive patrolling is also being carried out in sensitive areas to better manage law and order,” said Ravi Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South East.
Police officials aware of the security arrangements said instructions had been given to station house officers in all sensitive areas for maintaining round-the-clock vigilance.
The Lok Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill after a lengthy 12-hour debate, with the voting results showing 288 in favour and 232 against. The Bill is set to be discussed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. The Bill aims to limit the authority of Waqf Boards and increase government control over them.
No information on protests being carried out or planned has been received so far, the Haryana Police said Thursday morning. Police sources in Nuh, Gurgaon, and Faridabad said no demonstrations had been reported or additional patrolling had been called for so far.
Nuh MLA and Congress leader Aftab Ahmed said the party has yet to decide on any protests, which would depend on the outcome of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha.
“Any protest, if it happens, will be planned, with permission. For now, the party is awaiting further developments and will not be organising anything right away,” he said.
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Vijay Pratap, Superintendent of Police, Nuh, said, “We have no such information or orders. We have not gotten any inputs to suggest we need to increase police presence anywhere in the district.”
Sandeep, Gurugram police public relations officer, said while small protests continued to occur, the city police had not received any requests or information regarding large-scale demonstrations against the Wakf development.
Sources from the Gurugram Imam Sangathan stated the city would not see any protests from their side at this time. They indicated that demonstrations would be planned for later, but these will be limited to Nuh.
“In densely populated and mixed communities, all officers are actively patrolling and conducting checks. The Navaratri festival is currently ongoing, and Ramadan has just concluded. The law and order situation in the area is being closely monitored, with all officers diligently performing their duties,” said Shiv Hari Meena, Additional Commissioner of Police (law and order), Noida.
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Rajesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ghaziabad (city), said police teams are on alert, but there had not been instances of law and order problems. “We still are careful and vigilant,” he said.
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