E-Paper
Anti-CAA protesters in Kanpur remain defiant, return to site after eviction
After a six-hour long drama, which also saw mild cane charge and alleged stone pelting by a mob, the protestors who had pitched camp at the site, returned to Chamanganj.
Protesters against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) who were evicted from Kanpur’s Mohammad Ali Park in Chamanganj area early Monday, returned later in the day, police official said.
After a six-hour long drama, which also saw mild cane charge and alleged stone pelting by a mob, the protestors who had pitched camp at the site, returned to Chamanganj. The protest which has now entered the 34th day is similar to the Shaheen Bagh agitation in Delhi.
Witnesses said drama began around 3 am when the police forcibly started removing the protestors from the park along with their belongings. But even after the evacuation, women protestors instead of going home started demonstrating at the nearby Inspector Road.
Soon, more protestors, including men and women, joined them, taking their number to nearly 500.
This forced the administration to call up the additional police force but the protestors did not budge even after a mild lathi-charge, said an eyewitness.
Apprehending an escalation in tension, the police allowed the demonstrators to resume their dharna at the Mohammad Ali Park.
“The situation arose because of factionalism among the protestors. While one faction agreed to withdraw protest and leave, the other faction kept on occupying the park,” said senior superintendent of police (SSP), Kanpur, Anant Dev.
Kanpur’s District Magistrate DM Brahma Deo Ram Tiwari denied reports of any lathicharge on the protesters. He said police had been deployed in the area to deal with any untoward situation.
On Saturday, the protestors had agreed to withdraw the dharna after the administration promised to withdraw the cases lodged as part of preventive action against the protesters, said Ravi Srivastava, police inspector at Chamanganj.
All schools and most shops in the locality remained closed because of the tension. Monday is the 34th day of protest by the women at the park.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has several times accused anti-CAA protesters of directly or indirectly speaking the language of Pakistan and has warned that any attempt to vitiate the atmosphere in the country would not be tolerated.
The state had witnessed large scale violence across 15 districts last December shortly after the Parliament passed the controversial citizenship law. About two dozen people were killed in the violence, most of them in police firing. Hundreds of others were arrested and many fined for damaging public property.
