The Congress has not been secular.The five-minute clip played on a loop on certain TV channels with the hashtag  Automatic Door Operatorstukdetukdegang."It is out of our hands," the cops said.One of the main reasons for the change, according to two unnamed leaders, was the rising resentment against the sit-in protest at Shaheen Bagh. "There was a Congress lobby versus a BJP lobby and we didn’t want to become players in it or its victims. But in a style that exudes a scholar’s intellectual confidence and an activist’s moral certitude, he routinely dismisses some well-regarded Muslim historians, takes a strong position against not just the Congress and the Left, but also his college mate Kanhaiya Kumar who, he says, is a pointless public attraction that gathers huge crowds but changes nothing. Aao, kitna dum hai tumhari jailon mein, aao, bharo," she said."Tum ko peacefully uthane se mana kar diya hai…  court bhi intervene nahin karega," Sharjeel recalled a police officer telling him. Don’t insult anyone.From that moment, Sharjeel, "the Gandhi of Shaheen Bagh", became a "traitor, gaddar," accused of having taken "Rs1-2 crore from Amit Shah".

There was now marginal utility of the protest and the roadblock, and it was further reducing for us.", he says, to which the crowd responds ".Further away a group of school-going girls are sitting in a circle, white strips tied around their foreheads on which they have scribbled with pen, "No CAA, No NRC". 13A remained shut.He is talking of a dharna, a chakka jaam. Humera said that the women and other protesters are worried, but in no mood to move. He nitpicks and is critical of all.Artists from across the country came to create pieces of protest art — A mock detention centre in which people stand behind bars and pose for pictures. I agreed, though I was not very happy.If they could, they would have discussed an ominous remark of the police officer on the freezing night of January 1. Aasif didn’t.On January 2, Sharjeel put out a statement: "We have taken back the chakka jaam of Shaheen Bagh Road to avoid violence and attempt by goons to politicise the movement.By December 16, the day after the early protesters were hemmed in and stones were thrown, a mike had materialised and a makeshift stage was organised by some local Congress leaders on Road No. There was also concern that men could be removed forcibly and detained at any time, most likely in the dead of night. Women, on the other hand, can only be arrested by women cops, and never after sunset or before sunrise."Is mein hamara kya fayeda hoga? Nahin uthana. She worries similarly for orphans.. They would have been unnerved. Except Delhi, all were states with BJP governments.A law student, Ehtmam, told me, "The December 13 police attack on Jamia students upset them greatly, especially the women."Maine kaha, aap peacefully nahin uthayenge toh hum baithe rahenge. And I am sitting talking to Upasna from Bijnor in the enclosure around the Shaheen Bagh stage.