Maharashtra has witnessed 1,100 anti-CAA protests so far

Bandra residents protest against the CAA, NRC and NPR at Patwardhan Garden on Monday, January 20. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Over a month since protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) began in Mumbai, the state government has kept up the momentum and seems to be in no mood to support the controversial law. According to the home department's statistics, the state has seen around 1,100 protests since the first one at Marine Drive on December 13, 2019, in Mumbai, till mid-January.

Mumbai is one of the cities that have witnessed peaceful protests. Other cities that saw agitations are Pune, Nashik, among others.

Mumbai police had detained Fahad Ahmad for nearly two hours on December 13 after he read the Preamble of the Constitution at a protest on Marine Drive. Later, Mumbai witnessed the mega protest at August Kranti maidan on December 19, attended by over 25,000 citizens. NGOs and political parties have been conducting hunger strikes, marches and lockdowns against the CAA, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR) in their individual capacities.

A protest against CAA at Shivaji Park. File pic

A home department official, on condition of anonymity, confirmed the development. "The total number of protests recorded are in four-digit numbers (1,100 protests)," the official said. The official refused to divulge area-wise details. "The statistics are for the home department's records and understanding," the official added.

Home minister Anil Deshmukh and Maharashtra's Director General of police, Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, did not respond to calls.

After initial protests organised at individual levels, a pan-India group called Hum Bharat Ke Log - an amalgamation of over 100 organisations and individuals like Yogendra Yadav, Umar Khalid, Harsh Mander and Feroze Mithiborwala - has been organising protests almost every day.

Meanwhile, a senior IPS officer clarified that protests need not always mean a huge crowd. "For the police department, whether it is one dissenting person or several 100 agitating, every instance is considered as one protest. Also, the figure of 1,100 also includes a few delegations or individuals having submitting letters to the administration against the CAA," the officer said.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar has urged the state to not implement the CAA on grounds that it would hurt religious sentiments and social harmony. States like Kerala, Bihar, Punjab, West Bengal and Rajasthan have already opposed the implementation of CAA. CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhist, Jains and Parsis from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. At present, India grants citizenship to those born in India or those residing in the country for 11 years. For those belonging to any of these six religions, the period of stay in India has been reduced to five years.

Dec 19, 2019
Day the August Kranti Maidan protest took place

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