A sea of people took to the streets against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act here on Thursday, defying the prohibitory orders clamped under Section 144 of CrPC.
Muslim, Dalits and Progressive organisations under the banner of People’s Forum called for Kalaburagi bandh. The roads in the city wore a deserted look. The district administration had declared holiday for schools and colleges. Business establishments in Supermarket, Ganj, Humnabad Ring Road and Railway Station Road remained closed till evening.
The protesters gathered in large numbers near Nagareshwara School of Nehru Ganj. The police tried to quell the protest by arresting the leaders but a few agitators stopped the police vehicle from taking away the leaders by sleeping in front of it.
The police became helpless owing to the convergence of large number of the protesters. The agitators, then, came in procession to Jagath Circle, where some people belonging to Muslim community offered Namaz in the noon.
The police took the leaders of CPI, CPI(M) and SUCI(C) into their custody when they staged a protest at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Circle. They were let off later.
A protest planned under the aegis of SUCI was postponed in Raichur following the imposition of the prohibitory orders. Leaders of left parties submitted a memorandum in Lingasugur. No protest was held in Koppal, Bidar and Yadgir district against the CAA.
Prasanna detained in Gajendragad
Police quelled the protests in Hosapete, Hubballi, Vijayapura and at several places in north Karnataka by taking the agitators into preventive custody.
In Gajendragad, Gadag district, theatreperson-activist Prasanna said the amendment to the Citizenship Act was against the Constitution and would create communal disharmony. Prasanna and CPM workers were detained by police when they tried to stage a protest, defying the prohibitory orders.