'CAA unconstitutional, brought to polarise voters': Protestors

The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation held a protest against the recently implemented Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Bengaluru's Freedom Park on Wednesday.

The protest involved the party’s multiple wings such as the All India Students Association (AISA), Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA), All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA), and All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU).

Holding images of iconic leaders like Bhagat Singh, Dr Ambedkar, Rajguru, and Sukhdev, protestors demanded CAA’s repealing, alleging it to be discriminatory and contrary to the principles of the Indian Constitution. They alleged that the implementation is to polarise voters in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking to DH, Shabaz, a 27-year-old lawyer, called it a desperate move. Amid announcements by Tamil Nadu and Kerala not to implement CAA, protesters asked the Karnataka government to do the same.

"In Assam, more than 1.9 million citizens are suffering the brunt of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). We already have more than seven detention centres across the state. We cannot let this happen to the whole country,” said Pakizah from Assam, a speaker at the event.

Among the residents who attended the protest, Anjali Lal dubbed the act unconstitutional and “against the country’s values of secularism”. “It shall be seen in the context of growing fear and empowerment of vigilante groups,” she said.

“We will gradually increase the momentum and build a strong movement against the act,” CPI(ML) member and PhD scholar Aratrika, 28, said.