Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, who was granted bail by a Delhi court on Wednesday, on Friday reached the Jama Masjid in Old Delhi, hours before his deadline to leave the city expired. Azad, along with other people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act, read out the Preamble to the Indian Constitution.
“I am following the law and not violating any bail condition,” Azad told reporters before he entered the mosque. Azad had been granted bail on the conditions that he leave the national Capital within 24 hours of his release from jail and stay out of the city for the next four weeks in view of the upcoming Delhi elections. The Bhim Army chief was released from jail on Thursday.
Azad, who will be escorted back to his home in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur city on Friday, has to check in with the station house officer there every Saturday for the next four weeks. Following that, he will have to mark his presence before the officer every month till the chargesheet is filed.
Azad had sought special permission from the court for the visit to Jama Masjid. “Peaceful protest is our strength,” he told the people gathered at the mosque. “People from all religions who support us should join us in great numbers to prove it to the government that these protests are not led by Muslims alone.”