Massive protests are set to be held on Tuesday against the Citizenship Amendment Act with students organisations and citizens taking to the streets. Protests are schedule in Delhi, Kolkata, Goa, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
As police violently cracked down on protesters in Uttar Pradesh in the past one week, NDTV reported that a 20-year-old IAS aspirant died of bullet injuries in Bijnor. The UP police have admitted to opening fire, but claimed that they did so in self defence.
In Chennai, a German student from IIT Madras was asked to leave the country for participating in a an anti-CAA protest. Jacob Lindenthal, a post-graduate student told News18, “I was in Bengaluru this weekend. My coordinator told me today (Monday) that I should go to the immigration office. I went there and was told that I have to leave the country. This happened at 2 pm today and I had to leave IIT Madras campus at 3pm. I have to consult my lawyers and decide my next course of action.” (Find more details below). He left the country on Monday.
In Uttar Pradesh actor-activist Sadaf Jafar, who picked up from a protest in Lucknow was denied bail. Chief Judicial Magistrate Sudesh Kumar said she is not entitled to bail as the offences under which she has been booked are serious in nature.
Get live updates:
4:20 pm: Free Hugs And Slogans At Jantar Mantar As Delhi Continues Protests Against CAA
Delhi’s Tuesday protest that began from Mandi House culminated at Jantar Mantar with several groups of students, activists and citizens raising slogans against the government, violent police crackdown and the CAA and NRC.
Jannat and Amreen, social workers who were part of the protest, were offering hugs. They held posters, calling themselves “clownselors”.
Speaking to Huffpost India, Amreen said, “Things have become so serious, protests are also mostly serious, so we thought this would be a nice way to cheer people up.”
Amreen said she was protesting against the CAA because, “Hindustan ka batwara nahi kar sakte. (We cannot divide India). India stands united.”
Meanwhile, others raised slogans about police atrocities against protesters in many parts of the country.
2:34 pm: Union Cabinet Approves Proposal To Updated NPR
Amid uproar over the CAA and the NRC, NDTV reports that the Union cabinet has approved a proposal to update the National Population Register (NPR).
This is the first step to the NRC.
This comes even as West Bengal and Kerala have stopped work on the NPR.
Sources told the Economic Times that a budget of Rs 8,700 crores has been approved for the NPR.
1:54 pm: Rahul, Priyanka Stopped From Meeting Family Of Deceased In Meerut
Latest reports from Uttar Pradesh suggests that Congress leaders Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi were stopped outside Meerut, where they travelled to meet the families of two people who died protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Watch the NDTV report.
1:40 pm: Mamata Banerjee Raises More ‘CAA-CAA Chhi Chhi’ Slogans In Kolkata, Leads Yet Another Massive Rally
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee raised ‘CAA-CAA chhi chhi’ slogans against in Kolkata as she led yet another massive rally in the city.
Banerjee has vehemently opposed the CAA and NRC and even stopped work the the NPR in the state.
She also raised slogans of ‘BJP chhi chhi’ and ‘NRC chhi chhi’
1:30 pm: Jamia Student’s Raise Slogans In Protest At Mandi House
Peaceful protests are at the moment under way in Mandi House in New Delhi where students and citizens are protesting against the CAA.
Twitter users and journalists present at the protest put up photos and videos of the protest.
Here are some of them:
12:53 pm: BJP Leader And Grand-Nephew Of Subhash Chandra Bose Calls Out Own Party On CAA
Chandra Kumar Bose, BJP vice-president for West Bengal and grand nephew of Subhash Chandra Bose, said on Monday called out the Citizenship Amendment Bill and asked if CAA was not related to any religion, why were Muslims not included in it.
Bose took to Twitter to say, “If CAA 2019 is not related to any religion why are we stating - Hindu, Sikh, Boudha, Christians, Parsis and Jains only! Why not include Muslims as well? Let’s be transparent.”
11:57 am: Section 144 Imposed In Delhi’s Mandi House
Authorities have imposed Section 144 in Delhi’s Mandi House on Tuesday even as large number of protesters gathered to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The protest march from Mandi House was supposed to begin at noon and march towards Jantar Mantar, the designated protesting spot in Delhi.
Somesh Jha of the Business Standard posted photos of security arrangements at Mandi House:
11:54 am: ‘Painful Moment’: WB Guv Jagdeep Dhankhar After Students Block His Car At Kolkata’s Jadavpur University
After his car was blocked outside Kolkata’s Jadavpur University by protesting students, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said “it was a painful moment” for him. He is also the chancellor of JU. He claimed that there was a total collapse of law and order in West Bengal.
Dhankhar has been critical of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government.
10:44 am: West Bengal Governor’s car blocked at Jadavpur University
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s car was blocked and he was shown black flags by protesting students at Jadavpur University ahead of convocation.
In a series of tweets, he called it a “worrisome situation” and said “rule of law is no where in sight”.
He was also shown black flags on Monday by some students of the university when he went to attend a meeting as its chancellor, PTI reported.
10.31 am: Prashant Kishor asks Rahul Gandhi to declare ‘no NRC’ in Congress-ruled states
In a tweet, Prashant Kishor thanked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for joining “citizens’ movement against CAA and NRC” and asked him to declare “no NRC” in Congress-ruled states.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and other party leaders read out the Preamble of the Constitution and vowed to protect it during a “Satyagraha for Unity” at Raj Ghat on Monday.
10:15 am: IAS Aspirant In UP Dies During Anti-CAA Protests, Cops Admit To Firing, Says Report
According to NDTV reports, Suleman, a 20-year-old IAS aspirant died in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor from police firing during anti-CAA protests.
The NDTV report says that the UP police have admitted, for the first time, to opening fire at protesters. They claimed they fired in self-defence.
10:01 am: Pakistani Hindu Refugees Hold Pro-CAA March In Jaisalmer
Meanwhile in Jaisalmer, Pakistani Hindu refugees held a pro-CAA march saying “This act will help us get a better life.”
9:34: Who Gives You The Right To Burn Buses? Asks Kangana Ranaut
Actor Kangana Ranaut has spoken about the anti-CAA protests across the country. Like many Bollywood celebrities, Ranaut has said it was important that “you don’t turn violent”.
Perhaps she has missed all the videos of police cracking down on protesters?
9:10 am: Here Are The Anti-CAA Protests Happening Across India Today.
Twitter handle @FeminismInIndia has made a handy Google doc to keep track of the many protests happening across the country. The handle has been keeping a track of the protests since they spread across the country over the last one week. So if you want to know if there is a protest in your city, you can check it out here:
Here are the protests happening today according to Feminism in India doc:
Delhi:
12:30 pm | Mandi House to Jantar Mantar | National Protest Day, organised by Jamia Coordination Committee
Bengaluru:
5-8 pm | Mahatma Gandhi Statue, Mourya Hotel Circle, Candlelight VigilKolkata:
4 pm | Presidency University Campus to Shyambazaar, open to all students
Goa
3:30 pm | Opp. Margao Municipal Building, Margao, Goa Women’s MarchHyderabad
6 pm | Zila Parishad Ground, Mahbubnagar, organised by Asad Owaisi (AIMIM)
8:31 am: German Student At IIT Madras Asked To Leave India
Jakob Lindenthal, a German student in IIT who participated in anti CAA protests, was reportedly given oral instructions by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office to leave India.
Lindenthal told The Indian Express before leaving on Monday night, “After I reached Chennai this morning, my course coordinator advised me to meet immigration officials immediately. When I reached there, they cited some administrative issues related to my residential permit in India. After I resolved their queries and it was clear that there were no issues regarding my residential permit, they started asking me about my politics and hobbies.”
8:15 am: Candle Light Vigil At India Gate By Jamia Teachers
On Monday evening students and teachers of the Jamia Millia Islamia University held a candle light vigil at the India Gate on Monday.
Delhi president of AISA Kawalpreet Singh tweeted that she had been picked up from UP Bhawan and taken to Mandir Marg police station.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, A K Antony, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, Anand Sharma, Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath were among senior Congress leaders who were part of the demonstration demanding protection of the rights of people as enshrined in the Constitution.
The Congress’ protest came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a rally here that his government has not yet held any deliberation on a pan-India National Register of Citizens, comments seen as a departure from Home Minister Amit Shah’s assertion in Parliament on rolling it out.
“What our enemies could not do, is now being done by Narendra Modi to stall the country’s progress. He wants to divide the country,” Rahul Gandhi alleged while addressing the gathering at the end of the protest.
As students were being detained in Delhi, reports from UP suggested that teacher, Congress worker and actor — who was picked up during a protest — was denied bail and reportedly beaten mercilessly by the police in custody.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Sudesh Kumar said she is not entitled to bail as the offences under which she has been booked are serious in nature. The bail application moved on Zafar’s behalf had claimed that she had not committed any crime.
Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Congress leaders met the activist in jail and alleged that she was given worse treatment than “third degree” by the police. “She (Zafar) was beaten brutally by the police. She was hit on her back and her hair was pulled,” Congress state president Ajay Kumar Lallu, who met Zafar in jail, told PTI.
However the police have denied the reports of torture. She was with the rioters and we arrested her from the site of protest. We followed protocol and got her medical test done. We have enough proof against her and allegations against the police are baseless,” senior police officer Suresh Chandra Rawat was quoted by NDTV as saying.
In Bengaluru, The News Minute reported, thousands of people turned up on Monday at the Quddus Saheb Edigah. A reporter of the news website tweeted that it was likely that 1 lakh people had turned up.
In Chennai, DMK president M K Stalin led the march from Egmore to Rajarathinam stadium and leaders of alliance parties, including senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, walked alongside him holding placards against the Act.
Cadres of DMK and other allies, holding party flags, banners and placards, marched for 2.5 kilometres in a procession amid tight security as police deployed 5,000 personnel and drones along the route.
MDMK leader Vaiko told reporters the rally was “a success” which will make the Centre realise it has stirred a hornet’s nest by amending the Citizenship Act.