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Protests Against CAA, JNU Attack Continue in Tamil Nadu

In Chennai, leaders of the minority community have asked the state government to stop implementing CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Students of Madras University protest against Sunday's violence at JNU

Image Courtesy: The Wire

The protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) continues in Tamil Nadu with increased participation from students and civil society organisations. A massive rally and demonstration was held in Vizhupuram while college students boycotted their classes in Kanyakumari district condemning the CAA and the attack on the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

In Chennai, leaders of the minority community have asked the state government to stop implementing CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

In Nagapattinam district, students of TBML College, Porayar boycotted the classes and held a protest outside the campus. The students of various colleges boycotted the classes and held a demonstration in Kanyakumari. The protest was organised by different student organisations in the district and was attended by state president of Students Federation of India (SFI) A T Kannan. The students demanded withdrawal of the CAA and termed the act unconstitutional and discriminatory.

“The union government is trying to overpower the dissenting voices by suppressing their struggles. Even in JNU, the police have filed cases against the affected students. A right-wing group, which has activists from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which took responsibility for the attack, is roaming freely. No case is being filed against the attackers who had accepted the crime,” said Kannan while speaking to NewsClick.

He further added, “There are unrest and violence in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while the protests in other states are peaceful. This itself shows who are the people resorting to violence. But the union government and the BJP leaders accuse others of spreading violence.”

The joint committee of different Jamats in Vizhupuram district held a protest rally and demonstration against the CAA. D Ravi Kumar, MP and general secretary of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), while speaking at the demonstration, pulled the union government up for spreading hatred by bringing in an unconstitutional amendment to the citizenship act. Earlier, the district police administration had denied permission for the rally and the demonstration. The protesters defied the police and proceeded with their charted schedule.

In Chennai, several leaders from the minority communities met the chief minister and asked him not to implement NRC in the state. The state has been witnessing widespread protests against the CAA ever since the bill was tabled in Parliament. The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) had supported the bill in both houses of the parliament. The chief minister had assured in the state Assembly that the government will protect the interest of the minorities. But in spite of his claims and assurances, a minister in his Cabinet, Nilofer Khafeel, and former member of parliament Anwar Rajah, had raised apprehensions about the CAA and NRC.

The protest in Valluvar Kottam in Chennai is continuing with different civil society organisations participating in the protest on a daily basis. The protesters demanded action against the masked gang of people who attacked the students of JNU. They also accused the Union government of suppressing dissent and being fascist.

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