India / Azad reaches Jama Masjid amid CAA protests, police says he's not protesting

The Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, with a copy of the Constitution in one hand, was on Friday back at Delhi’s Jama Masjid, almost a month after he was arrested following a protest against the citizenship act in the area.

The 33-year-old Azad sat on the steps of the iconic mosque in the old city of the Capital hours before he is bound by a court order to leave Delhi after being released on bail on Thursday night.

“Peaceful protest is our strength. 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,” Chandrashekhar Azad was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Surrounded by supporters as well as protesters, Azad also read the preamble to the Constitution.

Chandrashekhar was granted bail by a local court on Wednesday on the condition that he would not visit Delhi for the next four weeks, except for medical treatment, and would not be involved in any protests during this period.

Kamini Lau, the additional sessions judge in Tis Hazari court, said the decision to keep him out was taken to avoid “violence” and “interference” in the Delhi assembly elections on February 8.

Under the conditions imposed by Lau, Chandrashekar Azad has to leave Delhi by 9pm, 24 hours after his release to visit Ravidas temple, Jor Bagh Hazrat Ali shrine and then Jama Masjid.

She had said Azad would not be allowed to visit Shaheen Bagh – where there are ongoing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

He would be escorted by the police to his hometown in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur where he would have to report to the local station house officer every week.

Azad had organised a march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar against the amended citizenship act on December last year without the mandatory permission from Delhi Police. He was sent to judicial custody on December 21.