Social activists, political workers and people from different walks of life on Monday took out a peaceful march demanding scrapping of the amended citizenship law and boycott of the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) here in central Maharashtra.
The march, with the theme 'Sanvidhan Bachao, Desh Bachao' (Save the Constitution, Save the country), was organised under the banner Amhi Laturkar (we, residents of Latur) and comes amid nationwide protests against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the NRC.
The 'maha morcha' started from the Ganjgolai area around 11 am and passed through Hanuman Chowk, Gandhi Chowk, and Ashok Hotel before ending at local Tehsil office in the afternoon.
Thousands of local residents, including students, women, lawyers, along with members of several political parties and social groups participated in the morcha.
The marchers held aloft placards with messages like Reject CAB! Boycott NRC! 'We want constitutional India, Not Naziwad' 'Chala NRC virudh mohim rabvyu ya Bharat dehsala vachvyu ya, (lets start a campaign against NRC and save India) and 'We are for rights not riots.
The demonstrators raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and also shouted constitution zindabad, our unity zindabad.
During the morcha, around 1,500 volunteers, with black ribbons tied on theirarms, stood on both sides of the road to help police maintain order and in crowd management.
Police personnel were deployed in large numbers in the city to maintain peace.
When the morcha started from Ganjgolai, traders closed down their shops and commercials establishments to show solidarity with the protesters.
Later, delegations of the demonstrators submitted two separate memorandums, listing their demands, to the President of India through the Latur district collector and tehsildar.
Their demands included scrapping the CAA and the proposed NRC.
The CAA promises Indian citizenship to persecuted non- Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
The new citizenship law, passed by Parliament and approved by the President, has triggered massive protests across the country.
CAA's critics say the law is discriminatory and violates the core values of the Constitution.
The controversial NRC is supposed to document bonafide Indian citizens and identify illegal immigrants.
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