K'taka: Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad detained by Bengaluru police for protesting against CAA

Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad was on Thursday detained by the city police for protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, (CAA) here despite the imposition of Sec 144.

The Left parties in the state had called a protest here today against the CAA in which scores of protesters including students, advocates and political workers took part.

The protesters gathered at the Town Hall here and raised slogans of "Azaadi", "Humko chhaiye Azaadi" and "Sarkaar Murdabad" while demanding repeal of the CAA.

Section 144 was imposed in the state ahead of many protests that were planned to take place today in Bangalore and other places.

A petition has also been filed before the Karnataka High Court challenging the imposition of Section 144 in the state. Chief Justice of the High Court, Abhay Oka, has posted the matter for hearing on December 21.

The Parliament had passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, last week and it became an Act after receiving assent from President Ram Nath Kovind. Since then, protests have erupted in various parts of the country.

The Act seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.