CAA protests attract all segments of society

Protests demanding repeal of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) held across the city on Thursday attracted people from all walks of life. 

At the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), over 100 researchers carried out what one professor described as the 30-year-old institute’s “first protest”.

The sit-in protest “strongly condemned the CAA and the police brutality unleashed on students on various academic campuses across the country. 

But it was silent and peaceful, with protesters holding up placards.

Students, who constituted more than 90% of the protesters, were supported by a few members of the faculty.

Outsmarting the cops

Meanwhile, at Mysore Bank Circle, the planned venue for a major students’ protest, a few demonstrators tried to hoodwink policemen by splitting into groups of three, to flout Section 144 which limits gathering to four people.

At the City Civil Court, members of the All Indian Lawyers’ Union staged protest against what they described as curbing of human rights.

“There was no necessity to impose Section 144. This is curbing the rights of Indian citizens. We don’t agree with this law as this is against the Constitution,” said Shankrappa, president of the union.

At the main protest site in front of Town Hall, a large number of working class citizens were joined by students, scientists, researchers, artists, lawyers and other professionals.

Among them was a 66-year-old citizen Gikki Aulakh, a Bengaluru resident since 1977, who said she had been prompted to join the protests after being appalled by sights of police violence against unarmed
protesters.