Thousands of Muslims gathered in front of an auditorium in Chennai, the capital of the eastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), The Hindu reported.
The protestors, mostly the members of Federation of Tamil Nadu Islamic and Political Organizations, gathered at the site despite the Madras High Court order prohibiting them from carrying out a demonstration.
There was heavy police deployment in the area on Wednesday morning. The protestors sought to march to the Tamil Nadu Secretariat to press for their demand that the assembly pass a resolution against the CAA, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).
A demonstrator holds a placard during a protest organised by various Muslim organisations and opposition parties against India's new citizenship law, in Chennai on February 19, 2020 | AFP
The anti-CAA protesters at Old Washermenpet in Chennai, who have organized a sit-in over the last five days, said they will defy the court’s order to march to Fort St George, which houses the assembly.
“Though support is understandably thin in the morning, it begins to swell as the day progresses, peaking in the evening and at night,” an organizer said.
Over 3,000 people took part in a march in Tiruchirappalli on Wednesday, shouting slogans against the CAA and asserting that they would not show their documents to government officials.
A bench of Justices M Sathyanaraya and R Hemalatha of the Madras High Court had on Tuesday issued an injunction till March 11, restraining the Federation of Tamil Nadu Islamic and Political Organizations and its allied associations from organizing the agitation on Wednesday, News18 reported.
However, the court did not express any opinion on the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register.
The Citizenship Amendment Act, passed by Parliament on December 11, grants citizenship to people from six communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, if they have entered India by December 31, 2014. However, the Act excludes Muslims from its scope. Protests against the Act have led to 28 deaths so far.
