CAA Protests As It Happened: 1 Dead In UP, 2 Dead In Mangaluru, Say Reports

Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act have been planned across more than 10 cities across the country today, even as Section 144 was imposed in different parts of the country including in Red Fort in New Delhi. 

Get live updates here: 

8:23 pm: UP DGP On Lucknow Death: ‘Don’t Know How It Happened’

UP DGP OP Singh, on reports of a protester dying in Lucknow, said, “I do not know how that death occurred”

The police have claimed that they have not fired at the protesters. 

We must remember the Delhi police has also maintained that they never fired at protesters even though people ended up in hospital with bullet injuries. 

8:10 pm: 1 Dead In UP, 2 Dead In Mangaluru, Say Reports

As people protested across the country against the Citizenship Amendment Act, in some places the protests turned violent, including in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. 

Now, NDTV is reporting that one person has died in UP’s capital Lucknow allegedly from a “firearm injury”. 

Meanwhile, The Indian Express reported that two people have died in Karnataka’s Mangaluru where the police were seen opening fire. 

Both UP and Karnataka are BJP ruled states. 

5.48 pm: Let UN Hold A Referendum, Says Mamata Banerjee

At a rally in Kolkata, Banerjee said that the BJP should go for a United Nations-monitored referendum on Citizenship Amendment Act and the NRC.

5.40 pm: Some Videos And Pictures From The Protest At Jantar Mantar

5:09 pm: Police Say Protesters Hurled Stones At Them At Mangaluru Protests

Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens turned violent in Mangaluru on Thursday with demonstrators hurling stones at police personnel leading to lathicharge, police said.

Protesters hit the streets, defying prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC that bans assembly of more than four people.

Some of the protesters were holding placards which read ‘withdraw CAA and NRC’ and ‘CAA is against constitution’.

With stones being hurled, police made a lathi charge to disperse the protesters, police said.

Protesters donning helmets were seen hurling stones at policemen.
Shops in the area were shut. There was no traffic movement. (PTI)

3:40 pm: 16 Flights Cancelled As Delhi Police Barricades Delhi-Gurugram Highway

Even as protesters gathered for peaceful marches across India, Delhi police blocked the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway causing chaos. 

ANI reported 16 flights got cancelled because of a traffic snarl this barricading caused. 

2:03 pm: Now, Protests In Delhi Continue In Jantar Mantar 

While protesters were detained from Red Fort and Mandi House in Delhi, they have now gathered in to Jantar Mantar. 

Here are some photos: 

1:59 pm: Protesters Are Back In Bengaluru’s Town Hall

Also in Bengaluru protesters have returned to the Town Hall after some were detained. 

2:00 pm: Massive Security Cover At Mumbai’s August Kranti Maidan Ahead Of Protest

1:53 pm: Entry/Exit Gates To Janpath Metro Station Shut 

1:30 pm: Arundhati Roy On CAA Protests: ‘This Times You Will Not Stop Us’

Author Arundhati Roy has said in a statement that this time the government will not be able to stop protesters this time. 

In her statement saying, “India is standing up. This government stands exposed and discredited. This is a day when love and solidarity face down bigotry and fascism. Everybody has joined in to protest against the unconstitutional CAB and NRC. We are Dalits, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Adivasis, Marxists, Ambedkarites, Farmers, Workers, Academics, Writers, Poets, Painters and most of all Students who are the future of this country.”

“This time you will not stop us,” she said. 

1:17 pm: Delhi Police Special Cell Had Directed Service Providers To Shut SMS, Voice, Internet Services

Now, ANI reports that the Delhi Police Special Cell had directed service providers to shut internet from 9 am to 1 pm on Thursday in light of the protests. 

The mobile internet shutdown happened in Mandi House, Seelampur, Jafrabad, Mustafabad, Jamia Nagar, Shaeen Bagh and Bawana. 

1:15 pm: As People Get Detained, People On Twitter Tell Us What To Do 

By now, it looks like hundreds of people across India have been detained while they tried to get out to protest. 

As people got detained, others took to Twitter to tell people what to do when on gets detained: 

12:59 pm: Umar Khalid Detained From Red Fort

 Political activist Umar Khalid says he was detained from Red Fort. 

12:58: Now, Vodafone Says Data Services Shut In Parts Of Delhi 

12:46 pm: Yogendra Yadav Says ‘Being Taken To Bawana’ After Being Detained From Lal Qila

Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav tweeted that after detention, he and others were being taken in a bus to Bawana. 

12:12 pm: Airtel Confirms Mobile Internet Many Parts Of Delhi

While several Twitter users complained of their mobile internet not working, Bharti Airtel India confirmed in a tweet that mobile internet has been shut in parts of Delhi on instructions from government. 

12:00 pm: Yogendra Yadav Detained 

11:44 am: Police Barricade Delhi-Gurugram Highway

While we have seen scenes like this in photos in other parts of the country, but now it’s happening in the national capital.

There is a huge log jam at the Delhi Gurugram expressway because the police barricaded the highway. ANI photos showed lines of cars being stopped. 

11:40 am: No Permission For Protest In Delhi’s Mandi House, Says Delhi Police

Meanwhile in Delhi’s Mandi House protesters have gathered. The Delhi police say they have not been “granted permission”. 

In the protest organised by Left parties, protesters are supposed to march from Delhi’s Mandi House to Parliament Street. 

11:15 am: In Red Fort, Delhi Protesters Gather In Large Numbers, Detained 

Large number of protesters have gathered to agitate against the Citizenship Amendment Act and reports suggest that many of them have been detained. 

Television visuals showed a massive crowd that gathered in front of the iconic Lal Qila even as the police tried its best to curb protests by imposing Section 144. 

11:10 am: Historian Ramachandra Guha Detained In Bengaluru

Section 144 has been imposed in parts of Bengaluru as well. NDTV reports historian Ramachandra Guha among protests who have been detained.

Earlier in the day Guha had tweeted, “Dear Police Commissioner, your Government’s decision has brought disgrace to this “international destination”. This was to be a peaceful protest by citizens who wish to uphold the values of our Constitution. You have used a colonial-era law to suppress us and our voices.” 

11:28 am: Protests In Kalaburagi, Karnataka

People are on the streets across the country. Here are some images ANI tweeted from Kalaburagi, Karnataka. 

Meanwhile, here’s some background on what has been happening across the country on Wednesday and Thursday. 

While citizens of the country have been relentlessly protesting, further protests have been organised in Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bhopal, Nagpur, Chennai, Mumbai and other cities. 

In Delhi, there were two marches that were supposed to take place in Thursday. — one from Red Fort to Shaheed Park, and the other from Mandi House to Parliament Street. The Delhi police, according to NDTV, has said that they have not given permission for the march from Lal Quila to Shaheed Bhagat Singh Park.

Section 144, that prohibits a gathering of four or more people in one place, has been imposed in many parts of the country to deter protesters, and mostly in BJP ruled states. 

Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao told The News Minute , ”“Section 144 will be imposed for the next three days. Starting 6 am on Thursday till midnight on December 21.”

Section 144 was also imposed in the North East Delhi district after violence in the Seelampur area on Tuesday. In Delhi, the police comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs. 

PTI reported the Uttar Pradesh police as saying on Wednesday that no permission had been given for protests as prohibitory orders are in place in the entire state.

“Section 144 (prohibiting unlawful assembly) of CrPC is in force and no permission for any gathering has been given for December 19. Please do not participate. Parents are also requested to counsel their children,” DGP OP Singh said in a tweet.