AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI, DEC 19
Various civil society groups, students and left parties organized protest against the Controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act all over the country. Despite police making elaborate arrangements and putting up barricade on all the roads leading to Red Fort, the venue of the main protest in Delhi, protesters managed to reach Chandni Chowk and Jama Masjid, adjoining Red Fort and staged protest. A large number of protesters, including women, were detained by the police and taken away in buses waiting for them. Protests were also held at Jantar Mantar, a little distance from the Parliament House.
More than 100 buses had been kept ready outside the Red Fort to take people to various police stations.
Protests against controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act turned violent in Lucknow, resulting into torching of several vehicles and police firing teargas shells to control the situation.
People from all walks of life and from various faiths took part in protests shouting slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and their party-BJP-for bringing the law intended to divide Indian society on communal and religious lines. They said that CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be prepared for people all over the country was in contravention of the provisions of the constitution.
Police lathi-charge protesters in Ahmedabad
Police on Thursday lathi-charged some people who gathered in Sardar Baug area in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens.
A police official said they dispersed the protesters to maintain law and order as those who had gathered were not given permission to hold the protest.
The protest was organised by Left parties, including the CPI and CPI(M), and organisations associated with them.
“We had not given permission for this protest. We dispersed them to maintain law and order,” a police official said.
Lukewarm response in Gujarat
A bandh called by a minority rights group against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens evoked lukewarm response here on Thursday as routine life remained unaffected, police said. At least 12 members of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) were detained from outside a college for protests against the new citizenship law, Ahmedabad Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Patel said.
Autorickshaws were plying in the city which largely remained unaffected by the bandh call, he said. While shops in Muslim-dominated areas of Juhapura, Jamalpur, Gomtipur and Teen Darwaja were shut since morning, the bandh call, given by ‘Alp-Sankhyak Adhikar Manch’, failed to evoke response in other areas as commercial establishments remained open there, police said. A cloth market in Dhalgarwad area of old city remained shut since morning.
A banner saying ‘The cloth market will remain closed today against the draconian law of CAA and NRC’ was put by traders on the main road leading to the market. However, no autorickshaw union associated with the Congress extended its support to the bandh call, Patel said. “The bandh call had no major impact. Autorickshaws are also plying on roads. There was no incident of people being forced to close their shops. There may be some places where shops were shut voluntarily, but almost the entire city remained unaffected,” he said.
Patel said 12 members of the NSUI were detained from outside a college near Lal Darwaja area of old city for demonstrations against the new citizenship law and NRC. Since some civil rights groups earlier also gave a call for ‘Bharat Bandh’ on Thursday, following which Gujarat Director General of Police Shivanand Jha asked the State Reserve Police to keep their armed personnel on ‘stand-by’ for any emergency need.
Meanwhile, Shamshad Pathan, member of the group which gave the bandh call, claimed their protest received good response as several Muslim-dominated areas observed a total shut down. Though the bandh call was given only for Ahmedabad city, messages on social media appealed to people since Wednesday to observe a shutdown across Gujarat. Some messages urging Muslims, specifically from cities, including Vadodara and Godhra, to join the bandh went viral on social media since Wednesday. “A message calling for Vadodara bandh was circulated on Wednesday.
However, it had no major impact in the city today. All markets are open,” Vadodara Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Kharat said. As a precautionary measure, the entire police force of Vadodara city was asked to keep a close watch in their respective areas and conduct patrolling, he added.
In Godhra, shops and markets in Muslim-dominated areas, including near the railway station, remained shut. However, the bandh call had no impact in other parts of the state, the police control room said.
Protest in Lucknow was held despite Section 144 imposed by the administration. It was part of the protest against CAA being held in several cities of the country including Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Bhopal, Thiruvananthpuram and Patna. The protests in Guwahati and other Northeast states are going for the last several days.
In Patna, train services were affected due to the protesters belonging to Jan Adhikar Party of former MP Pappu Yadav squatting on rail tracks. They also burnt tyres on roads that cause traffic jam in several parts of the city.
In Mumbai, students of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) organized protest against CAA. TISS students boycotted their classes for the second day today.
In Bengaluru, historian Ramchandra Guha was detained with a large number of several others.
In Kerala, hundreds of youths belonging to Democratic Youth Federation of India took out a march to the Raj Bhawan in Thiruvananthpuram, after senior leaders of the left parties were detained during anti-CAA protests in Delhi. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, however, was not at his residence. Police used water canon to disperse the protesters.
In Chennai, the police arrested a Tamil outfit leader Ilanthamizhar Iyakkam
am for instigating students of Central Polytechnic against CAA. The police booked a case against three students-one from Annamalai University, other from Madras University and another one from World Tamil Research Centre for staging protests and brainwashing students to protest against CAA.
Kolkata mostly remained peaceful on Thursday, excepting stray incidents of clashes between protesters and supporters of CAA. West Bengal had witnessed arson and violence during protest against the new law from December 13 to 17. Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee had taken out three marches from December 16 to 18.
