A sea of protesters move towards the Chepauk stadium in Chennai’s Triplicane neighbourhood. During the massive rally, the crowd of thousands slowly split clean into two parts, making way for an ambulance to pass through the road full of protesters on Wednesday.
This video which has now gone viral on social media, was shot during a massive protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by Muslim groups at Wallajah road in Chennai’s Triplicane on Wednesday. This even as the city police denied permission to protest, citing traffic congestion.
Wednesday’s anti-CAA protest at Wallajah Road was led by at least 20 Muslim groups and political organisations, including members of the Federation of Tamil Nadu Islamic and Political Organisations, and saw over 25,000 protesters, predominantly from the Muslim community, in participation.
And they thought law & order would be affected #CAA_NRC_NPR #Chennai #TNAssembly pic.twitter.com/25iQhpHqSE
— Shabbir Ahmed (@Ahmedshabbir20) February 19, 2020
At 10 am, the entire stretch of Wallajah road was cordoned off with barricades by police personnel. The protest took place despite the Madras High Court prohibiting public agitations by Muslim groups and political parties until March 11. The Chennai police also denied permission to protesters, stating that the organising groups had not applied for mandatory permit five days prior to the protest.
According to the gathered crowds, the principal demand of Wednesday’s protest was to get the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly to pass a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The protesters had earlier threatened to lay siege to the Secretariat to demand action on CAA and NRC. By 10 am the march began from the Kalaivanar Arangam on Wallajah road to Triplicane’s Chepauk stadium where crowds assembled in thousands, determined to undertake a long march to the Secretariat and end the agitation there.
However, by 1 pm, the gathering was curtailed at Chepauk, a few kilometres ahead of the Secretariat, following which the crowds dispersed.