Anti-CAA groups unhappy with KCR for ‘suppressing’ protests against CAA

Hyderabad: Despite Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao taking a stand against the Citizenship Amendment Act, groups protesting against the legislation are unhappy with the government for “suppressing” the peaceful protests, especially in Hyderabad.

The city has been witnessing flash protests, mostly during night time, as the police are not allowing any group to stage a sit-in or take out rallies. Police are even filing cases against the protestors, prompting them to question the contradiction between what Rao is saying and what his government is doing on the ground.

The denial of permission to several groups including women and students to stage protests has angered them and they are now cautioning the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government that they can’t be silenced for long. What is upsetting the organizations is that Hyderabad is lagging in protests against the “discriminatory legislation” compared to other Indian cities including cities in the BJP-ruled states.

The historic city, known for its rich Muslim past and strong community leadership, has always been the torch-bearer on taking up movements on burning issues but the curbs on anti-CAA protests have angered several socio-political, religious, groups, voluntary and student organizations and activists.

“If there are not many protest programs like Shaheen Bagh in Hyderabad, it will be a blot on the city,” Jamaat-e-Islami’s Telangana unit chief Hamed Mohammed Khan told a protest meeting last week.

He said though Telangana Police call itself people-friendly police, its attitude is not at all friendly. “We are appealing to the friendly police to cooperate with the people in peaceful protest, allow them to vent out their feeling and resist the excesses being committed on them,” he said.

“When the protests are being held across India, this attitude of Hyderabad police is condemnable,” social activist Khaleda Parveen told IANS. She believes that the Chief Minister’s statement on CAA could be a mere eyewash as he did not say anything on the NRC and the NPR. (IANS)

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