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Thousands converge on Hyderabad streets against CAA
Despite heavy police deployment, the protesters flooded the main thoroughfares from all parts of the city to reach the venue, where the march culminated in a brief public meeting.
Tens of thousands of people from all walks of life converged in the heart of Hyderabad city on Saturday to protest against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register.
The “Million March”, organised by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Joint Action Committee (JAC), comprising around 40 groups and civil society organisations, drew a sea of protestors from all walks of life, in spite of the Hyderabad police stating that only 1,000 people would be allowed to gather the site.
The organisers were first refused permission to conduct a rally at Hyderabad’s Tank Bund (which is one of the main thoroughfares connecting different parts of the city) last month. The permission to hold the public meeting at Dharna Chowk was given after the organizers approached the Telangana high court, which asked the city police to reconsider the application for the protest. The officials finally gave permission for the meeting to be held from 2 to 5 pm.
However, despite heavy police deployment, the protesters flooded the main thoroughfares from all parts of the city to reach the venue, where the march culminated in a brief public meeting.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad (Central Zone) P Vishwa Prasad said the march went on peacefully and there were no untoward incidents. “It concluded within the deadline fixed by the police. There were no inflammatory speeches or slogans either,” he said.
He, however, said the turnout was more than expected and it had resulted in a lot of inconvenience for the common people. “Since it was the first meeting of the JAC of Muslim and non-Muslim groups and political parties, it is natural that the crowds were mobilised in large numbers. Otherwise, it went on without any problems,” he added.
The massive protests brought traffic to a halt on the main roads at Indira Park and Hussain Sagar lake, which connect the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Several shops and business establishments in the Old City of Hyderabad remained closed in solidarity as businessmen and traders turned out to participate in the march.
The participants, holding tricolours, banners and placards, shouted “No to CAA, NRC and NPR”, and raised slogans like “Inquilab Zindabad”, “we want azadi from dictatorship,” “unite against hate” and “we reject NRC” rent the air.
The CAA is aimed at fast-tracking the grant of Indian citizenship to members of religious minorities from the Muslim-majority countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
While the government has maintained that the law will help non-Muslim migrants from three neighbouring nations become Indian citizens if they fled religious persecution and entered India before 2015, activists, students, opposition parties and other protesters allege that the law discriminates against Muslims and is against the secular tenets of the constitution.
“Our ancestors decided to remain in India on a call given by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. This is our country. We were born here and will die here,” news agency IANS quoted a protester as saying.
“It was a huge success. People from all walks of life, including students, engineers, lawyers and doctors and people from business community took part in the Million March. It was undoubtedly one of the largest demonstrations the city had ever witnessed in the recent years,” JAC convenor and Tehreek-e-Muslim Shabban president Mushtaq Malik said.
“The participants surpassed our expectations.”
The Karnataka Police on Saturday resorted to lathi charge on people who were staging a march in favour of the CAA.The police said the protestors had allegedly broken through barriers and even pushed some police officers.
“We assigned a particular place to them, but they did not listen to us. They broke through barriers and pushed some police officers. The police tried to control the situation, but they did not stop. So we had to resort to lathi-charge,” a police spokesperson said. The march was organised by Kolar MP S Muniswamy, along with other BJP leaders.
