Hundreds of protestors were detained across India on Thursday as authorities clamped down on protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, social activist Harsh Mander, scholar Yogendra Yadav, and Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja were among those detained in Delhi, where 20 metro stations were closed through the day. Historian Ramachandra Guha and others detained in Bengaluru after they defy prohibitory orders and come out to protest against the Citizenship Act.
Police personnel were seen firing in the air to disperse protesters against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Karnataka’s Mangaluru on Thursday, when agitations broke out simultaneously across the country.
#JustIn – Mangalore police resorts to gunfire to quell the crowds who threw stones and bottles at them. Police claims 20 personnel injured.#CAAshowdown pic.twitter.com/D0hj8MjFHr
— News18 (@CNNnews18) December 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/thejaram92/status/1207610385827794953
Curfew imposed in parts of Mangalore. Bandar, Pandeshwara, Hampankatte, Mangalore Central, Barke, Urva & Kadri police station limits under curfew. #CAAProtest #Karnataka
— DP SATISH (@dp_satish) December 19, 2019
Mumbai doesn't disappoint, yet again!
लय भारी!
August Kranti Maidan, is a sea of people right now!
This pic is outside the maidan, literally overflowing!#IndiansAgainstCAA#MumbaikarsAgainstCAA#MumbaiAgainstCAA
Pic Credit: Ashna Panchal via Anish Gawande pic.twitter.com/g2uKj7aLlh
— Ruben Mascarenhas (@rubenmasc) December 19, 2019
Police has already detained multiple protesters in Ahmedabad. pic.twitter.com/tRKr70dT4z
— Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) December 19, 2019
#JustIn — Vehicles set ablaze at Madeyganj police chowki in Khadra area of Old Lucknow. #CAAshowdown pic.twitter.com/SsoGyrlscl
— News18 (@CNNnews18) December 19, 2019
We the people of #India… pic.twitter.com/cEnf9pN8Qs
— Dia Mirza (@deespeak) December 19, 2019
Maharashtra: Protesters hold march against #CitizenshipAct in Nagpur. pic.twitter.com/i1mrlspO5Z
— ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2019
Restrictions on large gatherings had been placed over the entire state since the previous evening, with the BJP-led government denying student groups and activists permission to hold protests against the controversial law.
Around four policemen in riot gear could be seen shooting in the air on what seemed like a deserted ground even as people stood watching from some distance. The action was reportedly taken to quell a crowd of protesters that was increasingly getting out of control.
Police also cracked down on protests in other parts of the state, including Hubballi, Kalaburagi, Hassan, Mysuru, Ballary and state capital Bengaluru, detaining hundreds of people.
https://twitter.com/_poorvaja/status/1207605106536960003
#CAAshowdown | Protest in Lucknow turn violent, Police chowki burnt. pic.twitter.com/T5ncYa98C7
— News18 (@CNNnews18) December 19, 2019
#WATCH – Anti-CAA protests intensify in Bengaluru.#CAAshowdown pic.twitter.com/fEjTrd4nsZ
— News18 (@CNNnews18) December 19, 2019
Massive crowd in Lucknow. Police just trying to scramble us #NoCABNoNRC pic.twitter.com/3vsap0cYeo
— artika raj (@artikaraj) December 19, 2019
Karnataka: Protests continue at Town Hall in Bengaluru against the #CitizenshipAmendmentAct. pic.twitter.com/V6LqbqJSNA
— ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2019
#WATCH Gujarat: Police resort to lathi-charge during protest called by different Left parties, over #CitizenshipAmendmentAct, in Ahmedabad. The protesters were allegedly blocking police vehicle when the the police resorted to lathi charge to disperse them. pic.twitter.com/tTIWJXsf8T
— ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/karwanemohabbat/status/1207584714128707585
Brought to Model town police station. When faced with unjust laws & an inhuman govt, non-cooperation, satyagraha & peaceful protest is our duty pic.twitter.com/4EMEPdnEcy
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) December 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/ayesha_minhaz/status/1207564407527493632
#JamiaMilliaUniversity while Muslims read namaz Hindus, Sikhs form a human chain to shield them. This while protestors protest against CAA /NRC in national capital pic.twitter.com/Uu17V22ev4
— Aishwarya Paliwal (@AishPaliwal) December 19, 2019
Sambhal: A State Transport bus set ablaze, allegedly during protest against #CitizenshipAmendmentAct. More details awaited. pic.twitter.com/rtjO2rEF1A
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) December 19, 2019
HALLA BOL!! HALLA BOL!!!
At Jantar mantar, #Delhi #CAA_NRC #CAAProtest pic.twitter.com/5Fe8wnYS8u
— Internal Dark Matter (@Just_Screams) December 19, 2019
Now Harsh Mandar along with other activists also detained. https://t.co/eC3A8FpzVo
— Radhika Bordia (@radhikabordia) December 19, 2019
Peaceful protests against #CitizenshipAct in Tinsukia, Upper Assam today. #CAAProtest
https://t.co/0JsfURnjnU— Shantanu Nandan Sharma (@shantanunandan2) December 19, 2019
Human chain against #CitizenshipAmmendmentAct and NRC at Pondicherry University!
Today was the last day of classes here. Tomorrow, all these students will go back home and lead protests in their respective cities, towns and villages. This will only grow bigger.#IndiaAgainstCAA pic.twitter.com/EcZYX6lArU
— Anish Gawande (@anishgawande) December 19, 2019
Protests all over the country.
This is a protest rally in Yamunanagar, Haryana. pic.twitter.com/4v6wfdm2hy— Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) December 19, 2019
D. Raja, Sitaram Yechury among other manhandled and detained by Delhi Police from Mandi House. #CAAProtest https://t.co/kNFKbwC4Q9 pic.twitter.com/ZVlCHP58VU
— Girish (@GirishNaught) December 19, 2019
We had asked for permission from police to oppose CAA and NRC in Vadgam constituency.
They didn't give and we decided to disobey.
Chhapi-Palanpur highway blocked by supporters.
This is the way to go! pic.twitter.com/WDqlbIYzif
— Jignesh Mevani (@jigneshmevani80) December 19, 2019
Historian Ramachandra Guha is among the protestors who came in waves to Town Hall, Bengaluru and were detained. pic.twitter.com/yRY45drPU2
— Prajwal (@prajwalmanipal) December 19, 2019
.@Ram_Guha arretsed by @BlrCityPolice at townhall #CAAProtest pic.twitter.com/XTcbMhSuUa
— Imran Khan (@KeypadGuerilla) December 19, 2019
Prohibitory orders banning large gatherings are in place in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka – both of which have the Bharatiya Janata Party in power. Internet services were suspended in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district, where a state-run bus was set ablaze. In Bengaluru, historian Ramachandra Guha was among over 200 people detained by the police. However, protestors are reportedly back at the city’s Town Hall.
There were reports of demonstrations in other parts of the country as well. Police baton-charged protestors in Ahmedabad, while hundreds of people gathered at Kolkata’s Ramlila Maidan. Several demonstrators, most of them university students, were detained in Hyderabad on their way to Exhibition Grounds, where a demonstration was planned. Rail and road services were disrupted in Bihar during a bandh called by Left parties.
Author Arundhati Roy protested at Jantar Mantar. She told Scroll.in: “I’m here because as I’ve said before, like demonetisation broke the back of the economy while we all stood in line and gave up our own money, now these laws are breaking the back of the Constitution. Now you can’t get more raw, open fascist than this.”
She also said the Citizenship Act, combined with the NRC, is “making petitioners out of the entire population”. “Yes, it’s against Muslims, even the CAA if it’s only about immigrants, to discriminate against Muslims, to leave out Sri Lankan refugees, to not talk about persecuted Muslim minorities in other countries is unconstitutional, is against the spirit of this country”
She also said ,
When you combine CAA with the NRC and when you say that citizenship will be based on the government scrutiny of a certain set of documents… this is what happened in 1935 Germany, these were what were known as the Nuremberg laws.
I was traveling in Assam, they did this exercise, even though the Supreme Court hasn’t yet decided whether it is constitutional or not. They spent thousands of crores, they did this exercise, they were unhappy with it, now they want it again. If you have a margin of error in this exercise it will go into millions.
They have no idea what they will do with these so-called stateless people, except create a social hierarchy in which some people have more rights than others like a modern caste system. The real idea is to create a rift, to create bigotry as an acceptable idea in our society. There are not enough prisons to hold these millions of people, it’s just an exercise, a test of whether this country will accept this fascism and the people stood up and said we will not.
Sixteen flights have been delayed at Delhi airport due to a traffic jam on NH-8, reports Business Standard. Nineteen IndiGo flights have been cancelled as the crew got stuck in the traffic jams.
Near Jamia Milia Islamia, site of violent action by police against protesters over the weekend, protesters of other faiths formed a human chain as the Muslims among them were praying.
Protests are also taking place in Assam today, where the internet has been restricted for days on end.
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