Azamgarh residents hold protest,demand judicial probe

Vijay Singh Haivi from Azamgarh said,“I cannot stop my son from studying or going out,but I always make sure that he gets home before 8 pm. Residents of the area are still wary of sending their children to study outside Azamgarh,but they have no options due to lack of institutions in the area.

Meanwhile,a few BJP youth wing workers gathered at the Sarai Julena Chowk,painting a board that announced its “renaming” as Shaheed Mohan Chand Sharma Chowk. In a few hours,police arrived at the spot and repainted the board.

Following that,the activists sat on the spot,disrupting traffic. Vijay Sharma,general secretary of BJP Youth Morcha,claimed that the name of the chowk had long been changed to ‘Sajid Chowk’,but the residents of Batla House deny this.

Protests were also held at Sanjarpur,Azamgarh,where 1,500 people reportedly gathered to demand a judicial inquiry into the 2008 encounter. Tariq Shafiq from Azamgarh said,“The protest was also attended by members of the families of young children killed in the Batla House encounter,and those arrested later.”

Teams of the All India Students Association,who visited Malegaon and Azamgarh after the Batla House encounter,will release a report of their findings during the meeting. Later,a protest march will be taken out to demand a judicial inquiry.