Lucknow anti-caa protests: Police accused of taking away blankets, deny charge

LUCKNOW: A group of women continued their protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at the Ghantaghar Park here on Sunday with some of them alleging that police took away their blankets, a charge dismissed by the police.

On the lines of Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, around 50 women along with children have been squatting near the Clock Tower in Lucknow's old quarters protesting the CAA and National Register of Citizens.

The women protesters alleged that blankets provided to them by some organisations were taken away by police.

Rubbishing the claims made by the women protesters, the Lucknow Police in a tweet said, "During the illegal protest going at Lucknow's Ghantaghar Park (Clock Tower), some people tried to make a 'gheraa' (cordon) using ropes and sticks, and also tried to put sheets. They were not allowed to do so. Some organisations were distributing blankets in park premises. As a result of which, people living in the vicinity, who are not a part of the protests, were coming to take the blankets."

"Police removed those persons and organisations distributing blankets there, and action is being initiated against them," the Lucknow Police said, and urged people not to spread rumours. Lucknow's Police Commissioner Sujeet Pandey also dismissed the allegations levelled by the protestors.

A 27-second video clip emerged on social media which purportedly shows a policeman carrying blankets and sheets in a plastic bag. A woman could be seen in the video shouting at him and calling him "thief ", but police personnel did not respond to it. The indefinite protest by women at the national capital's Shaheen Bagh against the CAA and NRC has been going on for over a month now.

The protest at Lucknow's Ghantaghar started Friday night. Besides Delhi, protests have unfolded in several parts of the country over the law since it was passed on December 11 and have led to clashes at several places including Uttar Pradesh.

According to the amended law, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.