A total of 17 Delhi metro stations were closed on Friday due to the massive protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, in the national capital.
The metro stations, which were closed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), included the busy Rajiv Chowk.
According to a media report, Chandni Chowk was the latest station which was closed as commuters faced inconvenience during the peak evening hours.
Informing about the closure of the entry and exit gates of Chandni Chowk station, the DMRC on its Twitter handle at 05:59 pm, said: “Entry & exit gates of Chandni Chowk are closed. Trains will not be halting at this station.”
However, the DMRC kept the Kashmere Gate partially open.
Although the entry and exit gates were closed at the Rajiv Chowk station, the DMRC kept the interchange facility open.
The DMRC had tweeted: “Entry & exit gates of Mandi House and Janpath are closed. Interchange facility is available at Mandi House.”
It also informed about the closure of the Central Secretariat station through its Twitter handle.
The DMRC also closed the entry and exit gates of Khan Market and Pragati Maidan stations besides Dilshad Garden, Shiv Vihar and Johri Enclave metro stations.
The DMRC tweeted: “Of the 285 stations, Chawri Bazar, Lal Quila, Jama Masjid & Delhi Gate on violet line, Jaffrabad & Maujpur-Babarpur on pink line and Jamia Millia Islamia on magenta line are closed as per instructions of security agencies. Rest of the metro network is operating as per schedule.”
The protestors vehemently oppose the Act which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have migrated to India after facing persecution on grounds of religion in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh if they fulfil conditions for grant of citizenship.
The Act has also been termed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as “fundamentally discriminatory”.