B'luru calm, students hold symbolic anti-CAA protests

Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC) that the city witnessed on Thursday, continued on Friday, albeit on a smaller scale, at several places.

Besides the restrictions under Section 144, the police took additional precautions in view of Thursday’s violence in Mangaluru.

A huge number of police personnel were deployed in sensitive and protest-prone areas like Town Hall and Mysore Bank Circle. Though various organisations had given calls for protests on Friday, the situation was normal.

At Town Hall, there was an eerie calm as the police stood at all corners, stopping anyone arriving with an intention to stage protests. Omar, a resident of KR Market, turned up with a placard that appealed for upholding of the Constitution, but the police ordered him to leave the place.

Police security was beefed up near Jamia Masjid in KR Market. Throughout the afternoon prayers, the police deployed near the mosque ensured there were no untoward incidents and urged the gathering to exit peacefully.

At other mosques, too, the police reached out to people and requested them not to hold any protests. At places like Shivajinagar, the police dispersed those who were in groups.

At the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, students continued the symbolic protest outside the campus by placing blank papers in front of shoes. Footwear was placed outside the gate with flowers on them. A message on a placard read: “We don’t take the route of violence, we will protest within the framework of the law.”

While the main gate of the campus remained closed, students took to a "relay-protest" as they came out one by one, left their footwear and a message on a sheet. "People's voices can't be suppressed," a student said.

Later in the day, students from various colleges gathered at the Government Arts and Science College grounds near Mysore Bank Circle and staged a protest against the Union government. They also opposed the detention of women protestors through a street play. After an hour, the protesters dispersed peacefully.