Traffic came to a standstill in Delhi on Monday, 2 April, as hundreds of protesters marched in unity against the dilution of the SC/ST Act.
The protesters gathered at Mandi House protesting the Supreme Court order banning automatic arrest and registration of cases for alleged harassment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
They blocked the road outside the Mandi House Metro Station, bringing traffic to a halt as commuters faced inconvenience while travelling towards ITO and other stretches. The protesters also blocked one of the carriageways of Barakhamba Road affecting the traffic on the stretch, police said.
The city police has also curtailed the traffic movement on Sansad Marg from Patel Chowk to Jantar Mantar.
Several Dalit organisations had called for a 'Bharat Bandh' across the country on Monday, 2 April.
The Supreme Court had on 20 March diluted certain provisions of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, in a bid to protect 'honest' public servants discharging bona fide duties from being blackmailed with false cases under the Act.
The verdict is being widely criticised by members of the Dalit community and Opposition leaders who claim that the dilution of the act will lead to more discrimination and crime against the backward community.
Train Services Disrupted in Delhi, Protesters Squat on Tracks
Protesters squatted on tracks in several places outside Delhi, stopping trains, including the Dehradun Express and the Ranchi Rajdhani, to enforce an all India shutdown against the dilution of the act.
Services were disrupted when a mob arrived at the Ghaziabad yard around 10 am on Monday, Northern Railway officials told PTI.
Many trains, such as Saptakranti Express, Utkal Express and the Bhubaneswar and Ranchi Rajdhani as well as the Kanpur Shatabdi, were stopped ahead of Ghaziabad in Meerut and Modinagar, officials said.
A mob of about 2,000 people disrupted trains at the Hapur station as well, disrupting the movement of many goods trains, they added.
Delhi Police and Railway Protection Force personnel have been working to get people off the tracks.
In some areas, operations have been restored, the officials said.
(With inputs from PTI)