The protest held against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Mangaluru was joined by hundreds of people who arrived at the protest in boats. The protesters, many of whom were fishermen, reached the protest venue at Adyar Kannur in the outskirts of the city on boats and streamers. Instead of going to work, fishermen used their boats to chant slogans and protest against the CAA and NRC.
The protesters started from Ullal and traveled along the Netravati River to reach Adyar Kannur, and docked their boats 500 m away from the protest site.
"The roads were blocked by protesters and some fishermen from Ullal decided to turn up at the protests by boat. It was convenient for them that way," Yathish Baikampady, ex-President of the Moguveera Vyavastapaka Mandali, an organisation working for the welfare of fishermen in Mangaluru told TNM.
The protesters were singing "Azadi" and praised Gandhi and Ambedkar. They joined the large number of protesters, mostly men, who arrived at Adyar Kannur in Mangaluru by road. Witnesses said that traffic was blocked up to Padil, more than 4 km away from the protest venue.
The call for the protest was issued by 'We The People', a collective organising anti-CAA protests across the country. It was supported by Muslim organisations in Dakshina Kannada. Former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan and activist Harsh Mander were among the people who addressed the crowd of protesters.
The protest comes almost a month after two people were killed in police firing during anti-CAA protests in Mangaluru on December 19 2019. During the protests, police opened fire on protesters leading to the deaths of two dailywage workers - Abdul Jaleel and Nausheen. Police claimed that the duo were pelting stones during the protests and registered a case against the duo accusing them of rioting. The families of the victims were denied compensation due to this allegation.
Mangaluru police released videos on December 23, four days after the protests, of protesters pelting stones to justify its actions. However, the police was mum on other videos which showed that the police fired at protesters standing hundreds of metres away and that the police used tear gas near the ICU of a hospital.
Former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy released a set of videos which showed police lathi-charging students and by-standers, and pelting stones at protesters.