Hundreds of people marched from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar on Tuesday to protest the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Shortly before the march, Section 144 was imposed at Mandi House due to which a large crowd gathered at Barakhamba Road.
The march, spearheaded by Yogendra Yadav’s Swaraj Abhiyan and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) students, was allowed to proceed despite not having permission and the protesters made their way to Jantar Mantar amid heavy police presence.
The protesters carried cutouts of B.R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi; freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad; and held up copies of the Preamble. Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid said not only was the civil society resisting the CAA-NRC but several Chief Ministers and political parties had criticised the law as well.
‘Not a word on loss of life’
“The only instances of violence in such protests have happened in BJP-ruled States. What is happening in Uttar Pradesh is extremely shameful and that needs to be condemned by all. The Prime Minister spoke about damage to property but not even once about the loss of lives during such protests,” Mr. Khalid said.
Twenty-five-year-old student of Delhi University (DU), Paroma Ray, said: “The CAA and NRC are tools of communal politics. The CAA is meant to identify and isolate minorities, which is a direct attack on the secular fabric of our Constitution.”
A small group of people, who had raised slogans in support of the CAA, were met with loud chants of “Inquilab Zindabad” and “CAA down down”.
Latika Dikshit, 52, who was at the protest with her daughter, said: “We need to protest this Act even if it does not affect us directly.”
(With PTI inputs)
