Chennai police issues prohibition even as CAA protesters approach court

Chennai police issues prohibition even as CAA protesters approach court - Daily news

Chennai: While the entire nation has been seeing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, protesters in Chennai have been complaining that the city police have been denying permission for any kind of protest, allegedly on flimsy grounds. 

According to sources, when the anti-CAA protests were heating up in all major cities, Chennai had also seen a series of low-key, peaceful protests, mostly focused around the Valluvarkottam. No incident of violence has been reported during the protests in Valluvarkottam and on most days, the protesters reportedly sang the national anthem before dispersing peacefully. However, the city police began booking the protesters under the Madras Police Act since the last week of December, making it nearly impossible for protesters to congregate anywhere in the city. Mostly, the cops have been citing traffic and safety reasons to deny protests though people have asked several unimportant stretches in the city and tried to get permission during the lean times of the day. 

Activists are now contesting the Chennai Police's latest statement which 'regulates' all processions, demonstrations, fasts, human chains, meetings, and assemblies within the city limits. The case, which is being heard by the Madras High Court, argues that the prohibitory orders, which has been issued every 15 days in the city since the beginning of the issue, restricts the constitutional right to gather and protest peacefully.

Chennai being the only metropolitan city in the south, protesters are disappointed that the cops have been 'trying to suppress' secular protests. The ruling AIADMK government had voted in support of the act even though their founder, the illustrious MGR, would himself have found it difficult to prove his nationality under the amendment, as the Sri Lankan refugees are completely excluded from it.
 

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