Hyderabad: Prominent writers, academics and journalists staged a ‘Silent Protest’ against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which violated the secular and democratic spirit of the Constitution at the Makhdoom Mohiuddin statue on the Tank Bund under the banner of Progressive Writers` Association and Urdu Writers` Association on Thursday. They displayed placards with slogans such as ‘Don’t Meddle with the Constitution’, ‘Stop Violence against Students’, ‘Discrimination among the Religions: Play with Fire’, ‘India Rejects Communalism’, and ‘Killers of Gandhi Yesterday: Killing the Youth Today’.
They were protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to provide citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians from the Muslim majority countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, specifically excluding Muslims. They condemned the police attack on the students of Jamia Milia University, Aligarh Muslim University and at some other places.
The Progressive Writers Association and Urdu Writers Association also severely condemned the ban on protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Hyderabad and elsewhere in Telangana as it violated the right of freedom of expression and dissent guaranteed under the Constitution. In a statement here on Thursday, R V Rama Rao, president, Progressive Writers` Association, Telangana demanded that the State government immediately revoke prohibitory orders against the peaceful protests in the State.