Leaders and activists of the CPI, the CPI (Marxist) and various student outfits took to the streets here on Thursday in response to the call for nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.
Protesters, numbering about 1,000, gathered at Dharna Chowk and raised slogans demanding the withdrawal of the Act.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party government has unleashed its communal agenda on people by pushing through the Act which refuses to identify and give citizenship to Muslims from neighbouring countries. The fight will not end until the Act is revoked by Parliament,” said CPI(M) State secretary P. Madhu.
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“The Central government is seeking to divert the attention of people having failed to to tackle real issues such as unemployment, slump in the economy and rising inflation. The fact that the police are putting down protests by students of various universities with an iron hand shows that the government fears dissent,” said CPI State secretary K. Ramakrishna.
Retrograde move: TDP MP
Telugu Desam Party Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) took to the stage to express his disapproval over the Act and how it undermined the essence of secularism.
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“My stand against the Act and the NRC has been very firm since beginning. The government must withdraw the Act,” he said.