300 held in TN over anti-CAA protests, big turnout in Bengaluru

News agency Press Trust of India reported the arrested protesters belong to Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK), who tried to stage a ‘rail roko’ agitation and raised slogans against the CAA and NRC.

About 300 protesters were arrested when they blocked a train in Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur on Friday as fresh protests were held across the country against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Protesters from the LGBTQ community take part in a rally against the amended citizenship act, proposed nationwide NRC and NPR in Kolkata on Friday.(PTI Photo)

News agency Press Trust of India reported the arrested protesters belong to Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK), who tried to stage a ‘rail roko’ agitation and raised slogans against the CAA and NRC. Protests were also reported from Coimbatore, where hundreds of people formed a human chain to protest against the CAA.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was among top political leaders who addressed anti-CAA rallies at separate places. Speaking in Siliguri, she hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for saying “the opposition speaks Pakistan’s language”. Banerjee said it is a matter of “shame” that people were being asked to prove their nationality after over 70 years of Independence.

“India is a big country with a rich culture and heritage. Why does the PM regularly compare our nation with Pakistan? Are you the Prime Minister of India or the ambassador of Pakistan?... You [Modi] should rather speak of Hindustan. We do not want to be like Pakistan. We love Hindustan,” she said.

Modi defended his government’s position on the CAA on Thursday and dared the Congress and its allies to speak against Pakistan’s “atrocities” on its religious minorities. He has often accused the opposition of “speaking the language of Pakistan”.

Banerjee alleged Modi and his party repeatedly speak about Pakistan to divert public attention “from the burning issues like economic slowdown and growing unemployment”.

She vowed to continue her protest till the CAA was repealed and accused the BJP of creating “confusion” over the implementation of a pan-India NRC. “On one hand, the PM says there will be no NRC. On the other, the Union home minister and other BJP ministers claim the exercise will be conducted across India...”.

In Guwahati, former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi said the Congress will bring a resolution during the special one-day assembly session on January 13 to ensure that the CAA is not implemented in the state.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI (M) also held a rally in Guwahati against the CAA. Speaking at the rally, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury called the CAA and NCR a “package” aimed at creating “a rift between Hindus and Muslims”.

Yechury said the RSS has been trying to convert the secular democratic republic into a Hindu Rashtra.

In Bengaluru, protests were held at six places. Speaking at a protest rally in the city’s Chamrajpet area, Congress leader BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan said several Muslims sacrificed their lives for India’s freedom. “It was not the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] or the BJP which did that. By targeting the Muslims, BJP is trying to divide the country to push their agenda.”

Parliament passed the CAA last month to fast-track citizenship for non-Muslims, who have entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, before 2015. Opponents of the CAA say the law is unconstitutional because it links faith to citizenship in a secular country and is discriminatory because it leaves out the Muslims.

Protests against the law first erupted in the Northeast, where people fear the law could result in a fresh influx of outsiders. The demonstrations later spread to several other parts of the country. At least 21 people died in Uttar Pradesh during protests against CAA on December 20 and 21. Critics say the CAA, if combined with a pan-India NRC, could result in the expulsion or detention of Muslims unable to provide the documentation required for the exercise. An exercise held in Assam to identify undocumented immigrants in the state left out 1.9 million people from the NRC last year.