Several cities rocked by anti-Citizenship Amendment Act stirs

New Delhi: Violence made its presence felt in some places as Thursday witnessed concerted efforts by the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act camp to bring national and international attention to their fight against the controversial law. Protesters from a wide social and political spectrum joined forces as protest marches and meets were organized at many places across the country on Thursday.

Almost all the major cities – Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Lucknow, Patna, Thiruvananthapuram, and Hyderabad saw protesters on the streets despite substantial police presence and the imposition of prohibitory orders at several places.

In Delhi, protesters gathered in large numbers at various places like the Red Fort, Mandi House, and Jantar Mantar. Police forces deployed in large numbers kept the protests under control. A number of metro rail stations were shut as a precautionary measure.

In yet another BJP-ruled State, Karnataka, protests were by and large peaceful and orderly. Section 144 has been put in place in Bengaluru and other parts of the state from Thursday morning to 21 December. Prominent among those detained by the police in Bengaluru include eminent historian Ramachandra Guha.

Police fired teargas shells and carried out a baton charge to disperse 100 anti-CAA protesters who allegedly turning violent, setting a few motorbikes on fire and pelting stones on the security forces in Karnataka’s Mangaluru, a police official said on Thursday.

Maharashtra also witnessed protests in Mumbai and several other places in the state.

In Mumbai, the biggest procession was held at the historic August Kranti Maidan which saw a large number of celebs and political leaders like Raj Babbar, Naseem Khan, Milind Deora, Eknath Gaikwad, film personalities - Saeed Mirza, Suhasini Mulay, Farhan Akhtar, and Sushant Singh, academicians, social workers, representatives of NGOs, students, and many more sitting in protest against the CAA-NRC.

Nagpur, which is the headquarters of the RSS, also witnessed a big protest march by citizens’ groups.

Other places that saw anti-CAA protests include Rajasthan, Chennai, and Thiruvananthapuram.

In Rajasthan, protests were held in several districts including the capital city Jaipur where thousands belonging to the Left parties, lawyers fraternity, CIPU, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), civil society, teachers, professors, and many other organizations came together to take out a massive protest march against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

However, the protests drew a mixed response in Bihar and were largely absent from Madhya Pradesh. (IANS)

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