The Hyderabad police on Monday registered a case against activist Khalida Parveen and a few students of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) for organising a flash protest by women against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in Tolichowki, earlier this week.
Stating that there was no permission for the meeting, the police have booked 65-year-old Khalida Parveen under Sections 143 (Unlawful assembly), 341 (Wrongful restraint), 290 (Public nuisance) of the IPC besides relevant sections of the City Police Act.
The complaint was filed by Venkatramana, a sub inspector from the Golconda police station, who was on patrolling duty.
In his complaint, the SI said, "The protest has caused a lot of public nuisance and inconvenience and obstruction of free flow of traffic towards Mehdipatnam and towards Raidurgam area. I have taken custody of 61 members and photographs of the protest through video cameras. Remaining others had absconded."
Responding to the case against her, Khalida Parveen said, "The police is doing its job and we have to do our job. We will take legal advice. My work is activism. NRC and CAA are completely against the spirit of the Constitution. If we do not raise our voices now, then when will we?"
"Even if we get beaten with lathis and have to go to jail. We are not afraid. We are using our democratic right to dissent," she added.
Big salute to #IronLady @kparveen2005 says @hydcitypolice did their jod we will do our Job. We will exercise our #DemocraticRight with in the limits. #HyderabadFlashProtest #NajeebVemulaSquare pic.twitter.com/vtBE8N2jPy
— مبشرالدین خرم (@infomubashir) January 13, 2020
Taking the police completely off-guard, few women began a protest under the Tolichowki flyover on Sunday. Holding the national flag and raising slogans against the CAA, they squatted on the road.
The number of protestors swelled as more women and youth joined them. The youth were raising slogans like "Modi teri tanashahi, nai chalegi, nahi chalegi", "Hum kiya mangen, Azadi" and "kaala kanoon wapas lo" ( Modi your dictatorship cannot run, We want freedom, Withdraw the black law).
The protest led to mild tension and disrupted traffic at the busy intersection. When the police arrived on the scene and tried to forcibly remove them, the protesters demanded that they be allowed to peacefully continue their protest. The protesters alleged that the police were curbing their democratic right by not allowing them to protest. Senior police officials tried to persuade the women and youth to end the protest. The standoff continued till 3 am.
As the protesters refused to leave the place, police forcibly removed and shifted them to police vehicles. They were carried to Goshamahal and Golconda police stations.
This is the second time that the Hyderabad police is booking organisers of a protest against CAA and NRC.
The organisers of Hyderabad's 'Million March' that was held on January 4, had also been booked by the police earlier and have since filed a complaint with the Telangana Minorities Commission.
The organisers filed a complaint after multiple cases were filed against them by the Hyderabad police, after the conclusion of the event, for 'violating the permission' granted by the authorities.
Tens of thousands of people participated in the biggest ever protest against the CAA in Hyderabad on January 4, as crowds converged at Dharna Chowk and Tank Bund in the city. The meeting was organised by a Joint Action Committee (JAC) against CAA and NRC, comprising 40 Muslim and Dalit organisations.