Students gather to protest against CAA, NRC in Kolkata

Holding the banners reading, "No CAB, No NRC, No NPR", students started a rally from Ramlila Maidan and travelled towards downtown Kolkata.

Though the students had intended to end the rally near Gandhi statue in central Kolkata, police stopped the rally near New Market area.

Actress-filmmaker Aparna Sen, who had walked in the rally, said, "It must be shown how the entire country is protesting."

Actor Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee told IBNS, "We all assembled here not for a fancy cause but something which is related to our life and death so there is nothing apolitical in this country... I am happy to be here to support my country and the students of Jamia Millia University who stood up."

One of the protesters, Shourya, said, "There is a clear bias in the bill and it tries to single out some communities from some countries, leaves out other communities. We are protesting against the Constitution which is getting hampered here."

Shreya, another protester who was walking beside Shourya, said, "...How can a government which has been brought into power with our votes now come and confer citizenship to us. This is a gross violation of our right to live and exist. This is not just about Muslims but every person. This is a call against the inhuman process conducted (by the government)."

The CAA, which became an Act after it was passed by both the Houses of Parliament in December, will grant citizenship to Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi but not Muslim refugees who came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan before 2015.

Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "dress jibe", Mohammad Shujauddin, another protester, said, "The whole vandalism was a conspiracy. If the CBI correctly probes into the incident, everything will be clear."

Modi on Sunday said, "People who was involved in vandalism can be identified just by looking at their dresses only."

Though Union Home Minister Amit Shah said no Indian Muslims should be worried over the CAA, "This is a betrayal. Earlier the Modi government had betrayed Muslim women through triple talaq bill. So we completely reject the CAA irrespective of our individual religion."

In contrast, urging all protesters to check their emotions while agitating, Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, has stated the CAA has nothing to do with the Muslims in India.

"Under Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Muslim refugees who come to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh will not get Indian citizenship. It has nothing to do with the Muslims living in India," said Bukhari.

"There is a difference between CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC). One is CAA that has become a law, and the other is NRC that has only been announced, it has not become a law," he added.