Protests witnessed an uptick in southern cities against the Citizenship Amendment Act with demonstrations turning violent that led to clamping of curfew at Mangaluru in Karnataka.
Prominent citizens hit the streets in Bengaluru and Chennai alongside students, activists and the general public to oppose the contentious law.
In BJP-ruled Karnataka, demonstrations, defying prohibitory orders, turned violent at Mangaluru when a section of protesters pelted stones at police personnel and burnt vehicles.
Police opened fire in the air to disperse defiant protesters, baton-charged and fired tear gas to disperse them.
Historian Ramachandra Guha, who attempted to go on protest at the Town Hall area in Bengaluru were removed from the location and let off later.
Guha said it was "absolutely undemocratic" that police was not allowing even a peaceful protest.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said he instructed police to exercise restraint while handling agitations and alleged that Congress was behind the protests.
To allay fears among the Muslims, he said protecting their interests was the government's responsibility.
He held a meeting with senior police officials and reviewed security arrangements.
Protests were also held at Hubballi, Kalaburagi, Hassan, Mysuru and Ballary in Karnataka where police detained demonstrators for violation of prohibitory orders which is in force in various parts of the state including Bengaluru and Mangaluru till December 21.
In Hyderabad, hundreds of protestors, including activists of Left parties and about 50 students of the University of Hyderabad were taken into preventive custody to foil attempts to hold protests against the Act.
CPI national secretary K Narayana, party's Telangana state secretary Chada Venkat Reddy, Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) chief M Kodandaram were among 350 people were taken into custody
Police also prevented a protest rally by the Left parties against the CAA.
The Telangana capital city has been witnessing sporadic protests by various organisations including students and political parties against the CAA for the past few days.
In Tiruvananthapuram, hundreds of activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of CPI(M) took out a protest march to Raj Bhavan here.
CPI activists burnt an effigy of union Home Minister Amit Shah in Kozhikode.
Activists of SFI, the students wing of the CPI(M), took out a march to the Kannur railway station in north Kerala against the implementation of the Act.
Tanur Municipality in Malappuram witnessed high drama on Thursday as some of the councillors tried to present a motion against the CAA, which was objected to by the BJP members saying the issue was under the consideration of the court.
In Tamil Nadu, protests were held in Chennai, Tirupur, Tiruchirappalli, Nagercoi and Vaniyambadi.
Outifts, including Makkal Adhikaram, an ultra Left outfit and CPI were among those who held protests.
In Chennai, noted Carnatic music vocalist T M Krishna, and Tamil actor Siddarth were among the hordes of people from different walks of life who participated in a protest demonstration against the CAA.
The demonstration, organised by a collective of civil society members, Left liberals and volunteers of outfits including the Jamaat-E-Islami Hind and NGOs saw high pitched slogans against the BJP-led Centre, the RSS, and Hindutva.
The 'Azadi,' song popularised by former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar reverberated continuously among youth and students at the venue.
"The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is striking at the heart of the Constitution. Every citizen should come out on the streets against the CAA," Krishna told PTI. The singer said CAA discriminated against Muslims and targeted them.
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