By Adolf Washington
Bengaluru, Dec 24, 2019: More than 20,000 people on December 23 converged at a mosque in Bengaluru to protest the newly enacted Citizenship Amendment Act.
More than 35 NGO too joined the protest. Various groups teamed-up at different corners on the roads voicing their protest.
People began streaming in to Masjid-e-Khadria in Benson town from 9 am while announcements were being made in English, Hindi and Kannada (the local language). The protest lasted until 3 pm.
The mosque’s prayer-hall can seat over 2,000 people and a sprawling ground to seat over 10,000 people saw people spill over on the roads and by-lanes, many holding placards of protest, including women clad in ‘Burkha’ crying for ‘Justice’.
Water-canons and heavily armed police personnel were present to avert violence.
The protest that went on peacefully was punctuated with various announcements ranging from “Save India” “Save the Constitution”, “let us live in peace with people of all religions”, “We are Indians first and our religion is next.”
The mammoth gathering took a pledge to remain united with people of all religious backgrounds after Article 14 of the Indian Constitution was read.