A large number of people turned up for a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) at Town Hall here on Thursday. People from different parts of the city, including women, congregated at the venue, holding the national flag and placards while the police had thrown a security blanket across the city.
The call for the protest was given by Mysuru United Muslim Welfare Trust and the gathering was predominantly Muslim. The University of Mysore Research Students Association and Dalit Sangharsha Samithi (DSS) extended their support.
The demonstration passed off peacefully with participants giving away flowers to the police personnel at several places. More than 1,000 volunteers assisted the police in smooth movement of demonstrators and vehicles near Town Hall.
Addressing the gathering, journalist T. Gururaj said the citizenship laws of the BJP government were not against just Muslims, but against the secular fabric of the country. He described the electoral reverses suffered by the BJP in the recent Assembly elections including Jharkand as a warning sign for the ruling party and said the opposition to the citizenship laws would continue till they are withdrawn by the Centre.
Maulana Tajuddin, who heads the Mysuru United Muslim Welfare Trust, said the opposition to the citizenship laws should continue, but remain within the limits of law.
Maulana Abdus Salam said the country had never seen a law as patently “anti-Muslim” as the one brought in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “To accommodate outsiders, insiders are being evicted”, he alleged.
Thinker Pa. Mallesh and journalist Deepak also spoke on the occasion while leader of Jamaat-E-Islami Hind’s Mysuru unit Munawwar Pasha welcomed the gathering.
The city police had deployed 10 Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) battalions, 15 platoons of City Armed Reserve (CAR) platoons, and regular police and mounted police.
Security in Udayagiri, Kyathmaranhalli, N.R. Mohalla, Mandi Mohalla and other sensitive localities of the city was tightened in view of the protest.
In Mandya
At a convention organised at the Silver Jubilee Park here, speakers objected to the CAA and NRC and criticised the Centre for “taking measures/steps against the interests of larger sections of the society.”
K. Prakash, State vice-president of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), accused the BJP of conspiring to divide the country on religious lines.
The CAA would badly affect the tribal communities, nomadic tribes and minority Hindus across the country, he alleged.
A forum of Dalit, farmers and progressive organisations had organised the protest.
Several hundreds of people participated in the convention.
Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) leader Shambhunahalli Suresh, L. Sandesh, president of D. Devaraj Urs Backward Classes Forum, Dalit Sangharsh Samiti leader Guruprasad Keregodu, and others were present.
