Thousands Join Human Chain Against CAA-NRC-NPR in Bihar

Patna: Thousands of people, including a large number of women and children, formed a human chain to protest against CAA-NRC-NPR across Bihar on Saturday. The call was given by Left parties, supported by other Opposition parties and civil society organisations.

Holding placards, national flags, banners in their hands, a large number of people across all age groups held hands and stood on busy roads in towns as well as on national and state highways connecting different districts, such as Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Jehanabad among others, to express their opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) and to save the Constitution of the country.

"It was something rare, as people were enthused and came out of their houses to join the human chain. The participation of women and children in large numbers was particularly remarkable. At several places, the human chain was very long," said Tanvir Rizvi, who is associated with Samvidhan Bachao Morcha, a civil society body that actively mobilised people to participate in the human chain in Patna.

Leaders of Left parties and their supporters, carrying red flags, also spanned across the state. Subhashini Ali, polit bureau member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Dipankar Bhattacharya, general secretary of CPI (ML), state level leaders of Communist Party of India were among those who participated in the human chain in Patna.

"The massive participation of people has made it clear that they are against this black law" CPI (M) leader Manoj Kumar said.

CPI (ML) leader Dhirendhar Jha said this human chain was a people's protest. "We will stage a satyagarah at all district headquarters on January 30 against CAA-NRC-NPR", he added.

In Gaya, Sohail Khan of Samvidhan Bachao Morcha, said all roads, including the busy Chatta Masjid to Aliganj, Gewal Bigha, Railway Hospital to Swarajpuri Road and Civil Lines saw the spread of the human chain.

Reports reaching here from Kishanganj, Purnea, Katihar, Madhubani, Darbhanga, East and West Champaran to Begusarai, Samastipur and other districts also indicated massive participation by people.

Meanwhile, inspired by over a month-long resistance at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, which has been following the Gandhian principle of peace and non-violence, against CAA-NRC, several such sit-in protests are underway in different districts of Bihar.

Apart from sit-ins, protests of different kinds have been taking place at several thoroughfares in the state since the past few days.

The state has till now witnessed two shutdowns—first by the Left parties supported by the other Opposition parties on December 19 and again on December 21 by Rashtriya Janata Dal, supported by all opposition parties and Left parties.

Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United, an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had voted in favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in both Houses of Parliament last month. It is a different matter that after JD-U vice president Prashant Kishor had publicly opposed the party’s support to CAB and termed NRC as equivalent to “demonetisation of citizenship”, saying the biggest sufferers would be the poor and the marginalised, chief minister Nitish Kumar was compelled to say that NRC will not be implemented in the state.

But till date, Nitish Kumar has refused to say anything on countrywide protests against CAA-NRC-NPR.