A massive protest, the largest in North Karnataka, took place in the town of Kalaburagi against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Thousands were part of the protest march and came out defying Section 144 notification that was imposed on the entire state of Karnataka from 6am on Thursday. According to some estimates, around 15,000 people turned up on the streets. No incidents of violence were reported from Kalaburagi.
Around 5,000 people took part in the protest initially, but then crowds began to swell
The protesters marched through the entire town, and the protest gathered steam as more people joined in. In the beginning, there were around 5,000 people, according to local channels, but crowd swelled very soon. The protest went through the town, past Nagawarsha school in Kalaburagi, crossed the markets and went all the way to the Jagath circle.
The entire Kalburgi town came out in support of the #AntiCAA #Protest #KarnatakaRejectsCAA_NRC pic.twitter.com/zr33WEMrpO
— Alithea Stephanie Mounika (@alitheasm) December 19, 2019
At the Ambedkar statue, Congress MLA from Chittarpur Priyank Kharge and Gulbarga Uttar MLA Kaneez Fatima addressed the crowds.
Massive #protests across #Kalaburagi town in North #Karnataka #CAASupport #KarnatakaRejectsCAA_NRC #CAAProtestors pic.twitter.com/qY3vPiFGha
— Alithea Stephanie Mounika (@alitheasm) December 19, 2019
The crowd shouted slogans against the Modi government and against CAA and NRC.
According to some estimates, around 15,000 people traversed through the town's main roads.
Kalaburagi against #CAA_NRC #CitizenshipAmendmentBill
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) December 19, 2019
People are coming out voluntarily to protest against #Section144. #CAAProtests are increasing & I hope better sense will prevail over the BJP leadership to repeal this act which divides India on religion lines. pic.twitter.com/lWrh5o1MBM
Sources said that MLA Kaneez Fathima was the major catalyst in mobilising citizens. All local Congress corporators reportedly came out in support of the protest.
The protesters dispersed at around 3 pm.
The Kalaburagi protests were among multiple protests that took part in the state, despite Section 144 orders.
Not just in Kalaburagi, there were protests in many districts of Karnataka, including in Bengaluru. The protests turned violent in Mangaluru where police had to lathicharge and use tear gas shells. A curfew has been imposed in Bengaluru.