Anti-CAA: When Mangalore reverberated with Azadi Slogans

Lakhs of people gathered at Shah Garden at Adyar on the outskirts of Mangalore at a protest rally to condemn the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAA), National Register of Citizenship (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR).s

Many people came by boats to cross the river Nethravathi to reach the venue. National flag that is becoming a symbol of the Anti-CAA protests. The protesters waved a 100-meter national flag during the protest.

The speakers at the stage included many esteemed personalities and activists like harsh Mander, former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan, Shivsundar along with Muslim leaders.

The speakers spoke about the discriminatory nature of the citizenship acts and citizen registry passed by the Modi government. Harsh Mandar spoke about the dream of RSS to build a Hindu Rashtra and how laws like CAA, NRC and NPR are steps in that direction. He spoke that during Independence struggle Muslims fought against the British and the Muslims who chose to be part of India, why should they be asked to prove their citizenship?

Shivsundar highlighted that lies told by Modi and Amit Shah about NRC and CAA. He spoke about the discriminatory nature of the law based on religion and how it will affect Muslims. He spoke of people are suffering in detention centers in Assam. Shivsundar also spoke of the covert plans of government behind the NPR and NRC exercise. How one can be made stateless if one cannot show papers.

Many speakers strongly condemned the police firing on CAA protestors in Mangaluru on December 19, which killed two persons and demanded action against police commissioner P S Harsha and police inspectors Shantaram Kunder and Shariff.

The huge stage for protest against CAA, NRC, and NPR at Adyar was named after Jaleel and Nausheen, victims of police firing on December 19.

Kannan Gopinathan spoke about the unimaginable scale of corruption that exercises like NRC and CAA will unleash. The people speak about ending corruption will start even newer ways of corrupting the system.

State president of the Popular Front of India (PFI) Mohammed Shakid asked the people not to share any documents for the surveyors of CAA and NRC.

The rally also passed 10 resolutions. These resolutions include scrapping CAA and NRC, FIR against policemen who killed two people in the December 19 firing, release of the compensation withheld for Abdul Jaleel and Nausheen, and withdrawal of cases filed against the innocent. It also demanded a judicial inquiry into the police firing that killed the two people.

Shah Garden was packed with people for the protest, where some were even seen climbing street lights, signboards and buildings in the vicinity to catch a glimpse of the event. Hundreds of volunteers who were spread across Mangaluru city and the protest venue along with police ensured that the protest went off peacefully.