Historian Ramachandra Guha Detained by Police for Protesting against Citizenship Law

Historian Ramachandra Guha was detained along with dozen others in Bengaluru on Thursday evening during a protest against the new Citizenship law. The 61-year-old was part of the protest organised by activists at the Town Hall of the Bangalore city, where Section 144 has been enforced since the previous evening ahead of today’s protest. Section 144 bans large gatherings.

Ramachandra Guha later accused the police saying, “The police are working under directions from central government. We are protesting against the discriminatory act non-violently, in a disciplined way. Look here, everyone is protesting peacefully. Have you seen any violence?” He also said, “I have been detained by the police for holding a poster of Mahatma Gandhi and speaking about the constitution to the press”.

He was speaking to Media when a group of policemen dragged him away and took him into a bus that was driving off with other detained protesters. 

Later, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao appealed to the people of the city to not disturb the daily life in “an international destination where people had come from parts of the country and the world to study and do other economic activities”.

On hearing this, Ram Chandra Guha retorted, “Dear Police Commissioner, your Government’s decision has brought disgrace to this international destination. The peaceful protest was organised by the citizen as they wish to uphold the values of our Constitution. You have used the colonial-era law in order to suppress us and our voices”.

Defending the decision of the government to impose restrictions in the Bengaluru city, Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yediyurappa has blamed the Congress and said, “The Congress is behind protests against CAA. Taking care of Muslims is our responsibility. Request all to maintain peace. If Congress continues to support the protests then they will face consequences”.

On Thursday, protests were planned across the country against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which is going to make life easier for the non-Muslims, who came from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and want to become citizens of India. The protesters say the law discriminates against the Muslims and is in violation of the constitution.

In Bangalore, more than 30 protesters who were demonstrating with flags and placards against the Citizen law, were detained and hauled into buses by the policemen.

The decision to impose Section 144 in the city a day before the protest was done seeing the violence elsewhere in the country informed the state government. But Congress’s Rajeev Gowda has filed Public Interest Litigation against the move of the government.