A massive protest led by Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath against the Citizenship Amendment Act rocked India on Saturday, reports The Times of India. Protesters carried a 600-foot Indian Flag and raised slogans demanding BJP government to withdraw CAA and National Register of Citizens, in Chennai.
The agitators assembled from 1000am onwards near Alandur court. Police personnel blocked them from entering the Grand South Trunk (GST) Road. Most of the agitators used public transports to reach the venue. The vehicles of the protesters were diverted near Pallavaram and Guindy to ease vehicular movements on the GST Road.
More than 1,500 cops were deployed on GST Road and near Chennai airport as chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had to pass through this route.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday expressed concern that the state of Assam might be slipping back into the circle of violence over the continuing protests over the amended citizenship law, reports Hindustan Times.
‘I fear Assam is returning to the path of violence because of the BJP’s policies,’ he said, referring to the amended Citizenship Act. The Congress leader said the spirit of Assam Accord, a memorandum of settlement inked between the representatives of the All Assam Students Union, the Assam state government and the government of India against undocumented immigrants, which brought in peace should not be ruined.
‘Wherever the BJP goes, it spreads hate. In Assam, youth is protesting, in other states protests are happening as well. Why do you have to shoot and kill them BJP doesn’t want to listen to voice of people,’ the Congress leader said addressing an Ashtitwa Rakhyar Samabekh rally in Guwahati.
This is Rahul Gandhi’s first visit to the state ever since the protests against the citizenship law took over the state. The protests since then have also spread to other parts of the country. He said the BJP and the RSS will not be allowed to attack the culture, language and identity of Assam and the Northeast.
Mumbai-based copywriter Sarah Syed says she was long alarmed by the Hindu nationalist direction of India under prime minister Narendra Modi but felt powerless to stop it — until now, reports AFP. Like many others taking part in the current wave of protests, the final straw was Modi’s new citizenship law and then the images of students being tear-gassed when they demonstrated against it.
‘It’s not as if one didn’t know that things were not right. But for many of us, politics was just too depressing to think about,’ said Syed, a Muslim married to a Catholic. ‘Now though it feels criminal to sit out the protests and say nothing,’ the 27-year-old said. The law, which offers fast-track citizenship to non-Muslim nationals from three neighbouring countries, is the latest policy instituted by Modi’s government that critics accuse of marginalising Muslims in the Hindu-majority nation.
During his nearly six years in power, Modi’s party has renamed places with Islamic-origin names, rewritten history textbooks to diminish or discredit the role of Muslim leaders, and stripped the Muslim-dominated region of Kashmir of its special autonomy.
Modi has insisted the legislation will have no impact on Indian Muslims, however his party’s 2019 election pledge to conduct a nationwide survey to identify illegal immigrants has raised fears among Muslims of becoming stateless, with no fast-track naturalisation option available to them.
Meanwhile, amid criticism against the crackdown on anti-CAA and NRC protests in the state, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath has justified the police action while sending another message to protesters, reports India Today. In a series of tweets posted from the account of the UP chief minister, the CM’s office said the action taken has shocked every rioter into silence.
‘Every rioter is shocked. Every demonstrator is stunned. Everyone has been silenced after seeing Yogi Adityanath government’s strict actions. Do whatever now, compensation will be taken from anyone who damages public property. Every violent protester will cry now because there is a Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh,’ the CMO tweeted late Friday night.
‘Every rioter is thinking they made a big mistake by challenging Yogi ji’s government after seeing strict actions taken by it against rioters,’ Adityanth’s office said in a series of tweets in Hindi. Both tweets had a hashtag ‘TheGreat_CMYogi’. The tweets came in the wake of the Uttar Pradesh government notifying as many as 498 people for causing damage to public property during protests. The government said it will seize their property for causing damage to public property.
