People’s Forum, Kalaburagi, a conglomerate of organisations and individuals formed to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC), and National Population Register (NPR), formally launched its “civil disobedience movement” on the occasion of the 123rd birth anniversary of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on Thursday.
Activists led by Maruti Manpade of Communist Party of India (Marxist), Maula Mulla of CPI, Muslim community leader Asgar Chulbul and others garlanded a statue of the Netaji at Humnabad Base in the city and declared that they would not disclose any information for NPR or furnish any documents for NRC.
“CAA, NRC and NPR are meant to divide the country along the lines of religion. We have formally launched a peaceful civil disobedience movement today by declaring that we will not provide any information and documents for NRC and NPR. We will go to people in urban and rural areas and mobilise their support. Our struggle continues till the Union government repeals CAA and drops the idea of NRC and NPR,” Mr. Manpde said.
Terming CAA a draconian law, Mr. Chulbul said the Act violates the very foundations of the Constitution. “Article 14 of the Indian Constitution says that everyone is equal before the law. None can be discriminated agains along the lines of socio-economic status or cultural identity. The CAA, however, offers citizenship on the basis of religion and is, thus, a gross violation of the Constitution. CAA has been introduced to tear apart the secular fabric of the country. We will not allow this to happen,” he said.
