Amid intensified police bandobast, several thousands of people from various parts of Raichur district participated in a peaceful protest against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at the District Stadium here on Monday. The protest programme was organised by Samvidhana Hakkugala Nagarika Vedike.
Shivasundar, progressive thinker, said that a majority of the people, not only Muslims but also Hindus and other communities, will be harmed by the Citizenship Act.
The Union government, which has been functioning against the principles of the Constitution and has a hidden agenda, is trying to divide these communities on the basis of caste and religion by applying the Act. But, such a move by the government will not succeed as intellectuals and writers and some political parties and also youths from various universities and other educational institutions have been strongly protesting against the Act,” he said.
He strongly criticised the move to seek documents from people to prove their citizenship under the Act. He said that most of the backward communities, Dalits, minorities and other adivasis do not possess such documents.
“When a person doesn’t have any such document, how can you ask him to prove his citizenship through documents?” he asked. “We are not opposing the government taking action against infiltrators and those illegally staying in the country but our strong objection is to the trouble that may be caused to countrymen by way of implementing Act,” he added. Senior IPS officer (retired) Nissar Ahmed, who addressed the gathering, said that it was the responsibility of every Indian citizen to protect the Constitution by defeating the anti-people decisions of the Union government.
“The country’s GDP has gone down. Many industries have shut down. Youths have lost jobs and many educated people who had believed in the false promises of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are struggling for livelihood. Under such circumstances, the Union government, which should have taken appropriate steps to address unemployment, has brought the Act only to cause trouble to the people at large,” he said.
Activists Mohammad Khan and R. Manasaiah spoke. Chamaras Malipatil, Raghavendra Kustagi, Ravi Bose Raju and Razzaq and others were present.
