Advocates of the Telangana High Court staged two different protests in front of the court premises on Wednesday — one in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and one against the Act.
Distributing sweets, an advocates’ group under the banner of "Advocates for Nation" led the celebration over the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in both the Houses of Parliament. Raising slogans against Rohingya immigrants, the supporters of CAA also demanded immediate implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Speaking to TNM, Karunasagar Kashimshetty, a member from pro-CAA group and the founder of Hindu Sanghatan, said, “We are celebrating CAA and we have invited people to come for a debate to clarify their doubts. We have conveyed to them that there is nothing that affects the religious minorities of the country."
He added, "We have clearly gave a message that all the violence in the name of protests should be stopped and the protesters should read the Act before participation and then decide whether to participate or not."
While another group of advocates distributed sweets celebrating CAA&NRC, they have raised slogans against "Rohingyas" bad demanded the immediate implementation of NRC. pic.twitter.com/m0t8vKX4oH
— CharanTeja (@CharanT16) December 18, 2019
Meanwhile, another group of advocates staged protest opposing the CAA and NRC. They raised slogans like "Save the Constitution" and "take back the CAA.”
ZH Javed, a senior advocate, addressed the media and said, "We are protesting here to oppose the CAA which is polarizing the people in the name of religion. The fascist BJP government has brought this Act to threaten the Muslims of this country. The CAA must with drawn as it violates the Constitutional guarantees."
He further added, "Muslims of this country are as much as part of Indian freedom struggle. Many Muslims have sacrificed their lives to bring freedom. This country is ours and will be ours and continued be ours, we born here and die here. The government is trying to scare us but we are not going to be scared."
The police had deployed forces to prevent any untoward incident in the premises of High Court. The city of Hyderabad is witnessing protests against CAA and NRC as well as the police crackdown on JMI and AMU campuses. On Tuesday, too, several student groups from different universities staged a huge gathering at Osmania University.