Despite prohibitory orders and the administration’s efforts to quell protests, thousands of people took to the streets and took out multiple rallies and staged several demonstrations at different locations in Kalaburagi on Thursday protesting against Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Anticipating a large turnout, the district administration on Wednesday night imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.PC) in the entire district for three days starting at 6 a.m. on Thursday. The police had made all efforts to prevent people from joining the protests.
However, tens of thousands of people came on the streets, waving banners, holding placards, raising slogans against CAA and NRC. As a precautionary measure, Deputy Commissioner B. Sharat declared a holiday for schools and colleges the on Wednesday night itself.
Organised under the banner of People’s Forum, Kalaburagi, people in large number gathered at Nagareshwara School at Gunj Market area to take out a procession to the district administrative complex in the morning.
In a bid to prevent the agitators from taking out the march, the police initially detained around 100 leaders, including Nasir Hussein Ustad, Waaz Baba, Asgar Chulbul and Maruti Manpade, and pushed them into police vehicles. However, the protesting people did not allow the police vehicles filled with the detained leaders to move from the spot. As more people gathered, the police had to release the detained leaders within a few minutes, apparently to avoid further altercation and possible clash with the angry mob.
The people’s march then began to move from the area towards the district administrative complex raising slogans against the CAA and NRC as well as against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The two-kilometre stretch between Gunj and Chowk Police Station was filled with protesting people. Though heavy police bandobast was made and Deputy Superintendent of Police Kishore Babu himself was leading the force, nothing could prevent the mob from marching ahead. As the agitators reached Jagat Circle, the police convinced their leaders to stop and, by 2 p.m., the mob began to disperse.
Under another rally jointly organised by the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), led by K. Neela, Sharanabasappa Mamshetty and Bhimashankar Madiyal, a procession was taken out from Kannada Bhavan. The protesters burnt a copy of CAA outside the district administrative complex. As many as 10 leaders were detained and the remaining protesters marched to Jagat Circle.
One more demonstration was organised by Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) at SVP Circle where a large number of students and youths participated. The protesting activists were detained and released later.
Though the other parts of the city, particularly on the outskirts, remained almost normal, the main business area and the arterial roads in the heart of the city observed complete bandh. Shops, trading units, malls and other business outlets remained closed in the market area, Jagat Road, SVP Circle, Jagat Circle and other areas in the city. The public transport system was affected by the protests. Educational institutions, both public and private, remained closed for the day. Though banks and government offices were opened as usual, only a few staff members worked.
