In picures: Mamata Banerjee again marches against citizenship law and NRC

Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act continue in Bengal, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken to the streets several times over the past week to oppose the Bharatiya Janata Party government’s decision. On Tuesday, she again led a protest march in Kolkata.

The march began at Swami Vivekananda’s house, went through Bidhan Sarani and Maniktala, Kakurgachi, and ended near Beliaghata Crossing. Addressing the protesters, Banerjee said, “Sixteen states have rejected the CAA. Maharashtra has shown the BJP its real place and yesterday Jharkhand gave its mandate. It’s the beginning of the end for the BJP.”

She added, “They want to make it a war between Hindus and Muslims but we want our country to be Hindustan, a country for all. Today our protest is for people who want unity and peace. Vivekananda showed us the path to freedom. He never discriminated between Hindu and Muslim.”

Banerjee also wrote to non-BJP chief ministers appealing for a united fight against the “anti-people law” and the National Register of Citizens, which she claimed the Narendra Modi government plans to implement throughout the country. Her letter read, “Today, I write this letter to you with grave worries in my mind. The citizens of this country irrespective of caste and creed, particularly the women and children, farmers, workers and members of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, OBCs and minorities, are in the grip of fear and panic over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed nationwide NRC. The situation is very serious.”

Here are a few glimpses from today’s march.

All photographs by Satwik Paul.