Anti-CAA Protest: The two women had participated in a protest at Jafrabad metro station.
Three months after the clashes over the Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA killed over 50 people in Delhi, two students of Jawahalal Nehru University, who participated in an anti-CAA sit-in in Jafrabad in February, were arrested on Saturday. The anti-CAA protest in northeast Delhi's Jafrabad prompted a pro-citizenship law rally by BJP's Kapil Misra on February 23. A day later, clashes broke out in the national capital.
The two women who have been arrested - Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal - belong to the Delhi-based Pinjra Tod (Break the Cage) group, which works towards rights of female college students.
A case has been filed against them under IPC (Indian Penal Code) sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty).
They had joined a huge crowd of women protesters at Jafrabad Metro Station in February. The new citizenship law, dubbed as "anti-Muslim" by critics, seeks to grant citizenship to prosecuted minorities of three muslim-majority neighbouring nations - Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Several students and activists have been arrested by the Delhi Police in the last one month for their involvement in anti-CAA protests and alleged conspiracy in Delhi violence.
The clashes in the national capital, one of the worst since 1984 anti-Sikh riots, had triggered a huge uproar in the parliament. In March, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the government would ensure that no one responsible for the violence would go scot free.
"The Delhi Police have done a commendable job during last month's violence, confining the violence to 4 per cent of the city's area, 13 per cent of its population and ending it within 36 hour," he had said.
The arrests come as lockdown continues to tackle coronavirus, which has affected over 1.3 lakh people in India, killed more than 3,800.
The national capital has the fourth highest number of cases in India after Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
While the citizenship law led to nationwide protests, all these sites of agitation were cleared due to coronavirus, which spreads fast in crowded places.
Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, the heart of anti-CAA protests, was cleared on March 24 after 101 days.