Over 1,000 people swarmed the streets of Dharna Chowk near Hyderabad's Indira park on Thursday, to form a human chain and protest against the Centre's controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), on the eve of Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary.
The event was organised by “Citizens against CAA-NRC-NPR, under the banner of “We the People of India – Hum Bharat ke Log”, a pan-Indian initiative of many progressive groups and citizens.
A kilometre-long tricolour was also unfurled and held by participants of the human chain, as part of the protest.
Large banners commemorating Gandhi were also held by the participants along with national flags.
"In the wake of CAA and NRC, the country today is boiling. Though the people are saying that this is our country and we are citizens of this country and we are one, the rulers of this country are still following the cunning law of divide and rule, through the CAA. This is not the right decision. We are staging this protest and participating in this programme to tell them that they should take back CAA and NRC," Vimalakka, a singer and activist of Arunodaya Cultural Federation told TNM.
Students, women, activists and several people from different walks of life participated in the event, holding up placards like ‘India is Our Home, We All Belong Here', 'When Injustice Becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty”and 'KCR be a Star, Say No to NPR'.
A protester seeks Telangana CM #KCR to be the and stop NPR.
— CharanTeja (@CharanT16) January 30, 2020
Taken at "Human chain against #CAA_NRC_NPR" in Hyd' dharna chowk.@thenewsminute @dhanyarajendran @anna_isaac @rgmlk pic.twitter.com/6yyNzz4JBY
The evening was marked by asserting the diversity of India through multi-religious prayers and observance of silence at 5.17 pm, the exact time when Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948. The Preamble of the Constitution was later read out collectively.
Sounds of 'Ishwar Allah terenaam... at human chain at Hyd dharna Chowk @thenewsminute pic.twitter.com/0hz6XzbFSr
— CharanTeja (@CharanT16) January 30, 2020
Preamble of Constitution of India' from the human chain against CAA &NRC at Hyd's dharna Chowk. pic.twitter.com/vjhFuMlv0N
— CharanTeja (@CharanT16) January 30, 2020
"People from all walks of life have assembled here for freedom, equality, justice and secularism. We are out here as citizens of this country to stand united, and we will defeat the divisionary designs of the BJP and the RSS. We are against projects like the CAA, which are outrightly communal and unconstitutional," Meera Sanghamitra, a member of the National Alliance for People’s Movements said.
"As common citizens, we are out on the streets. We are not going to go back. Our numbers are only going to increase. We will stand united," Meera added.
The protest reverberated with slogans and songs, and ended with a collective singing of the national anthem.