Bengaluru/ Mangaluru Two people were killed in Mangaluru in Karnataka on Thursday after protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) turned violent, police said. Hundreds of people defied prohibitory orders of Section 144, imposed by the state police across several cities including Bengaluru, Mysuru, Kalburgi, Hassan, Huballi and Dharwad. Police had imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC on Wednesday, prohibiting assembly of four or more people at a public place, across these cities.
The government also suspended internet services in Mangalore city and Dakshin Kannada district for 48 hours, beginning 10pm on December 19.
As protests turned confrontational, with protesters throwing stones at the police in Mangaluru, the police opened fire in which 49-year-old Jaleel and 23-year-old Nausheen were critically injured. The residents succumbed to their injuries late on Thursday. Manguluru police commissioner PS Harsha said that police were forced to open fire on protesters in self-defence, and that 20 cops were injured. Curfew has been imposed in the city till midnight on Friday.
Reacting to the developments Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa tweeted saying, “I request all citizens of the state to remain calm and maintain peace. False propaganda is being spread about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Do not pay heed to politically motivated provocative statements from anyone. It is deplorable that violence was triggered in Mangaluru by those who went by the words of mischief mongers. I appeal to the people, particularly those in Mangaluru to maintain harmony and to refrain from destroying public property.”
Reacting to the deaths in Mangaluru, KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao tweeted, “Tragic news in Mangaluru. Two people have died in police firing and two are supposedly critically injured. The [Bharatiya Janata Party] BJP is directly responsible for breakdown of law & order. The statements and actions of the BJP govt & its leaders is creating an unnecessary provocative environment.”
{{/usCountry}}Reacting to the deaths in Mangaluru, KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao tweeted, “Tragic news in Mangaluru. Two people have died in police firing and two are supposedly critically injured. The [Bharatiya Janata Party] BJP is directly responsible for breakdown of law & order. The statements and actions of the BJP govt & its leaders is creating an unnecessary provocative environment.”
{{/usCountry}}Barring Mangaluru though in most other cities in Karnataka, protests were relatively peaceful except for some stray incidents of stone pelting. In Bengaluru, hundreds of people turned up at Puttannachetty Town Hall the main venue for protests.
Even though the police had deployed more than 40 platoons to maintain law and order in the capital, hundreds streamed into the protest venue even as cops blocked off nearby access roads. Bengaluru’s notorious traffic was even more gridlocked than usual as protesters waved placards asserting that CAA was against the constitution, even as some held up portraits of Gandhi and B R Ambedkar. A number of students carried out a unique form of protest by taping their mouths while others shouted slogans against the prime minister, union home minister and the ruling party.
Meanwhile two Congress leaders Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Gowda and Jayanagar MLA Sowmya Reddy filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court questioning the move to impose Section 144 in several parts of the state. The petition has been listed for hearing on Friday.