The country’s commercial capital on Friday witnessed two massive rallies at two historic venues — August Kranti Maidan and Azad Maidan — in favour of and against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) respectively. With the BJP putting up an impressive show of strength in support of the CAA and the Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice staging a numerically effective protest against the law.

With no let-up in the protests against the CAA and the National Register for Citizens (NRC), the BJP — operating under the banner of “Samvidhan Sanman Manch” — held a large rally in support of the CAA at the August Kranti Maidan on a day when the JAC for Social Justice — a body of activists, students and social groups — flexed its muscles against the CAA and the NRC in Azad Maidan.

Friday’s was the third protest organised by various bodies against the CAA and the NRC in the metropolis in the last fortnight, while the BJP-affiliated organisations have organised so far two rallies — including the one held on Friday — in support of the CAA. 

Though the protest organised by JAC for Social Justice was not of the mammoth scale as the one held at the August Kranti Maidan on August 19 when several Bollywood celebrities had turned up, Friday’s rally at Azad Maiden drew a large number of people from various sections of society.

The JAC for Social Justice had originally planned a rally from Byculla to Azad Maidan. However, it was denied police permission.

Bollywood actress Swara Bhaskar, student activist Umar Khalid, Mashkoor Usmani, former president of Aligarh Muslim University Students’ Union, Hammad-ur-Rahman from Jamia Milia Islamia and Fahad Ahmad from Tata institute of Social Sciences (TISS) spoke at the Azad Maidan rally.

Former Bombay High Court judge Justice BG Kolse-Patil and actress Richa Chaddha were prominent among those present at the rally.

Speaking at the Azad Maidan rally, Richa slammed the Narendra Modi Government for indulging in an extraordinarily expensive “disruptive” exercise at a time when the economy was in such a bad shape, unemployment was at its highest and farmers were committing suicide.

“The Government’s priorities are misplaced. The Government is saying so many things (on CAA, NRC and National Population Register) and contradicting itself. First it says these laws have no connection then it says some connection…The Government should initiate a dialogue with representatives of the people indulging in protests against unconstitutional law,” she said.

Several BJP leaders from Mumbai, including Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Captain Tamil Selvan and Praveen Chheda, Kirit Somaiya and party’s MP Manoj Kotak were present at the August Kranti Maidan. Former Chief Minister and current leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis was the key speaker at this rally.

Ad guru Bharat Dabholkar, who was among those present at the pro-CAA rally, said: “Ninety nine per cent of those opposing the CAA do not know what this law is all about. This is a law enacted by a democratically elected Government. Going against this law is a crime. If they really want to oppose, the people concerned should study the law first. I have spoken to many people who are opposing the law. They do not know anything about this law”.