7 Eminent People Who Have Been Suppressed For Protesting Against The CAA

Dissent is a characteristic feature of a democracy functioning properly. However, in the last 5 years that has not been the case for India. A political system where plurality of opinions and the right to disagree should be celebrated, has become a haven of fascist ideas and inclinations. The recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) had drawn the ire of many dignitaries, students and activists who had stood up to protest against a bill that is deeply communal in nature. Hundreds of people, including some noted public figures, were detained, as well as removed from their respective posts. Here are a few of them -

I. Bengaluru City Police has detained over 40 progressive thinkers and activists in the city, who were protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Prominent among those arrested include noted historian and author, Ramachandra Guha.

II. Actor Sushant Singh has been hosting the television crime show Savdhaan India – India Fights Back for the past seven years. The show features crime stories based on real-life events and reveals how victims fight to seek justice. However, the actor has been removed from the show abruptly, and it is speculated that this is because he participated in a protest against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act.

This comes after an image of Sushant Singh — who can be seen participating in a protest in Mumbai against the CAA and the police crackdown on the Jamia Millia Islamia University campus on Sunday — surfaced online.

III. Jakob Lindenthal from Dresden, Germany, a post-graduate student of physics at the IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), has reportedly been sent back for participating in protests on campus and elsewhere in Chennai against the citizenship law and the police crackdown on students in Delhi.

IV. Scores of protestors were detained by the Delhi Police near Red Fort when they tried to take out a march in defiance of the prohibitory orders imposed there to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Swarajya Abhiyan chief, Yogendra Yadav, was among those detained.

V. Prominent social activist in Lucknow, Sadaf Jafar, was kicked in the stomach and was bleeding after she was hit with a baton by police during protests against the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

VI. Bhim Army Chief,Chandrashekhar Azad,had organised a march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar against the new citizenship law, despite not having permission from the police. On account of that, he was arrested by the Delhi Police after initially being detained

VII. Assam RTI activist Akhil Gogoi was charged with sedition, intention to cause riot against national integration, punishment for criminal conspiracy and unlawful association under the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The reason extended was his alleged links with Maoists on charges of fomenting trouble in the state after the passage of the amended citizenship act.

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