Islamic organisations and Muslim-centric parties launched a Shaheen Bagh model dharna in Coimbatore late on Wednesday, hours after they organised a march involving around 8,000 persons in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the National Population register (NPR) and the National Registry of Citizens (NRC).
Around 9 p.m., over 500 persons including women, children and elders sat under awnings erected in an open space adjacent to Irshadul Islam Shafia Sunnath Jamath mosque, Athupalam, at the busy tri-junction of Coimbatore, Palakkad, and Pollachi Roads.
Organisers said that the they were planning to stage a peaceful dharna similar to the one staged by women in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh.
The protesters were seen holding placards which said “Kovaiyin Shaheen Bagh Athupalam” (Coimbatore’s Shaheen Bagh Athupalam) and “reject CAA”.
The organisers had made elaborate arrangements like the public addressing system, restrooms, food and water, for the dharna. Volunteers were posted on duty to avoid parking of vehicles on the sides of roads and visitors crowding the roads.
