Noted historian Ramachandra Guha was detained near Puttanachetty Town Hall in Bengaluru by the police while protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act which was recently passed by Parliament. The city is under Section 144 since Wednesday; it will remain in force for three days to prevent assembly of four of more people during anti-citizenship law (CAA) protests.
A few handful of protesters, including Guha who was waving a blue-coloured placard depicting B R Ambedkar with a text saying ‘CAA is against Constitution’, was taken into custody by the police after a warning.
“The police are acting at the behest of colonial masters and I feel sorry that they have to do this. Why is that only BJP-ruled states have this (imposing Section 144) and not others? This is totally wrong. These are ordinary citizens protesting. Police are getting orders from Delhi. The paranoid rulers in Delhi are scared. Home Minister would not dare allow a peaceful protest. Everybody should stand up. We are here to assert our democratic rights,” Guha said minutes before being taken into custody.
Apart from Guha, a few dozen others were also detained and bundled into a police van. An officer said that they are likely to be taken to Upparpet police station where case would be registered and are likely to be subsequently released.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CP-M) and a clutch of Muslim organisations also held protests near SBM Circle in Bengaluru. The police detained those protesters too. However, life was normal in most parts of the city with traffic, schools, colleges and offices functioning normally.
Karnataka Home Minister Basvraj Bommai appealed to protesters not to be mislead on CAA and not to break law.
