Oath to boycott NPR administered; ‘flash’ protest in old city

Dozens of worshippers who had converged at the Mecca Masjid took an oath to boycott the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register.

Joint Action Committee Against CAA and NRC convener Mushtaq Mallik ‘administered’ the oath in the courtyard of the historic mosque to around 100 people. “Come what may, we will not fill any form of the NRC or NPR. We are Indians and will not give any documents,” Mr Mallik said after which those assembled repeated these lines. Speaking to the media, Mr Mallik said that Muslims across the country in large numbers have decided to boycott the NPR. He also claimed that despite having required documents, people are ‘not safe’.

“Look at the State of Assam. Young people are dying in detention centres. Nobody is safe,” he said, and urged protesters to maintain calm and ensure that demonstrations are peaceful. “Peaceful protests are key to winning,” he said. Late on Thursday night, the city witnessed a flash protest at Khaja ka Chilla in Moghalpura. While at around 8 p.m., around 25 women gathered at the venue, said to be a private property, messages on social media with details of the protest urged recipients to join in large numbers began to circulate. When the protesters started swelling, police arrived at the spot and began to convince them to disperse. Sources said that locals went door-to-door to inform people of the protest, after which a few women made their way to the venue. Former AP State Minorities Commission member Syed Taraq Quadri, who was at the protest, told police that women protesters were making making supplication, and that venue was a private property. Avinash Mohanty, in-charge Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Zone, too tried to reason with them.

Speaking to

The Hindu , one of the organisers of the protest said, “After police arrived, they tried to tell them to vacate the place. They did not allow those people to enter and also kept a close eye on those who were trying to exit. There was sloganeering and people had come from various parts of the city to join us. We winded up at 3.30 a.m.”