Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act continued on Monday, with thousands of people showing up at rallies in Bengaluru and Chennai.
In Bengaluru, one of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act was organised at 11 am at the Hazarath Khazi Mohammed Abdul Khuddus Sahib Eidgah on Miller Road, The News Minute reported. The rally was called by around 35 organisations under the banner of Joint Action Committee of Bengaluru, PTI reported.
The Bengaluru traffic police cordoned off roads leading to the protest site and put in place traffic diversions and alternative route arrangements.
In Chennai, the protests were mainly organised by leading Opposition party the MK Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which said that the demonstrations will not stop until the Citizenship Amendment Act is repealed. Congress leader P Chidambaram and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Vaiko along with Left leaders also joined the protests. The rally ended at Rajarathinam stadium.
On Sunday, the Madras High Court had dismissed a petition seeking a stay on Monday’s DMK-led protest rally. The court had allowed the police to use drones to monitor the rally.
The Citizenship Amendment Act, passed by Parliament on December 11 and signed into law by President Ram Nath Kovind the following day, aims to provide refuge to people of six religious communities, except Muslims, from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The law has been criticised as being anti-Muslim, and in the Northeast, protestors allege that it will compromise their ethnic identities.
Here are photographs from the Chennai and Bengaluru protests:
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