Hundreds of leaders and workers of several Left parties staged a demonstration opposing the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act on the Mahatma Gandhi Marg here on Thursday.
Stating that the amended Citizenship Act was against the Constitution, the demonstrators demanded that the new law should be withdrawn without delay.
The leaders observed that granting citizenship to foreigners on the basis of their religion and exclusion of Muslims from its purview amounted to sacrificing secularism and ethos of the Constitution.
The parties which took part in the demonstration include CPI(M), CPI, Forward Block and CPI(M-L). Many senior leaders of these parties in the State took part in the protest.
CPI(M) Odisha State Committee secretary Ali Kishor Patnaik also criticised Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for supporting the Act. The BJD’s support to the CAA and opposition to the National Register of Citizens was mischievous, he said.
A separate demonstration was also organised by the CPI(M-L) Red Star where the demonstrators burnt the effigies of the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister and Chief Minister.
