Thousands take part in Hyderabad anti-CAA rally

Thousands of people gathered for the Tiranga rally here on Friday to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Led by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, the rally began from the historic Mir Alam Eidgah.

The rally will culminate in a public meeting at the Shastripuram grounds, where Owaisi and other leaders of the United Muslim Action Committee will address the gathering.

Thousands of men and women marched from Eidgah, holding national flag and placards, demanding revocation of the CAA.

The rally began after Friday prayers at the Eidgah.

The open ground, which witnesses prayers only twice a year on the occasion of Eid, saw a massive gathering as people carrying national flags poured in from various parts of the city.

Moulana Rizwan Qureshi, imam of the Mecca Masjid, delivered the sermon and led the prayers.

Senior Congress leader and former union minister Shashi Tharoor on Friday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for retracting their stand on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and said the government was “hastening” to cover its tracks.

Addressing a press conference, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said, “The prime minister shockingly said in Delhi that there have been no discussions on NRC. Everyone has seen Amit Shah speaking in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and in several interviews in which he said that CAA will be followed by NRC and the purpose of the NRC is to identify the non-eligible for the citizenship.” Meanwhile, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, continuing her campaign to meet victims of violence under the Yogi Adityanath regime, reached Varanasi on Friday.

Priyanka spent over an hour with those who had been arrested in the anti-CAA protests and heard their experiences. Members of the civil society were also present.

She met Ravi Shekhar and Ekta, the young couple who had been arrested, leaving their 14-month old baby in neighbour’s care.

According to sources, Priyanka assured the group of her support and also the support of the Congress in their campaign.Media was not allowed in during her meeting.

Senior Congress leader Shweta Rai also created a ruckus alleging that senior party leaders were being prevented from meeting Priyanka Gandhi.

Priyanka also met the NSUI members who had registered a historic win in the students’ union elections of the Sanskrit University on Thursday, defeating ABVP candidates. Some students from the Banaras Hindu University also turned up to meet her.

Earlier, Priyanka offered prayers at the Sant Shiromani Guru Ravidas temple at Raj Ghat where the priest gave her two books on Sant Ravidas and his wife offered her Varanasi’s famous sweet “malai glory.” She took a boat ride to the Panch Ganga Ghat and then the Shri Vidya Math where hundreds had turned up to meet her.

UPCC president Ajay Kumar Lallu had a minor accident when he slipped from the boat into the water but was rescued in time. He did not suffer any injury. She later went to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Separately, three Parliamentarians from the northeastern states of Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura are facing a strong local backlash for supporting the CAA.

While the Rajya Sabha member from Nagaland KG Kenye was suspended by his party Nagaland People’s Front (NPF), the lone Lok Sabha member from Mizoram C Lalrosanga has been facing strong protests by the local parties.

Terrorist outfit National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) threatened to take action against the ruling BJP’s Lok Sabha member Rebati Tripura for supporting the CAA.

About 120 students of Wipro czar’s Azim Premji University in this tech city protested against the CAA and NRC, and condemned the violent attack on JNU students and faculty, said a student representative on Friday.

Alos, students of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) have resolved to continue their sit-in protest against the CAA, despite a stern warning from the varsity administration.

Indo-Asian News Service