Violence mars Maha CAA/NRC protests, 6 govt vehicles stoned

Nagpur, Dec 20 (SocialNews.XYZ) At least six government vehicles, including three MSRTC buses and a fire truck, were stoned by miscreants during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in different parts of the state on Friday, officials said.

There are no reports of injuries in any incident, though police carried out a baton charge to quell the crowds in Beed.

At least three buses of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, one with a few passengers inside, were pelted with stones, breaking their glass windows and damaging interiors, in Hingoli town and in Kalamnuri town.

Stationery buses were targeted by the stone-pelters in Beed and Nanded, a fire truck was stoned in Parbhani and there were incidents of minor violence from other areas.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, speaking in the Assembly, appealed to the people to refrain from any violent activities during their democratic protests and "not sully the fair image of Maharashtra".

"There is a lot of fear among the people against the CAA-NRC all over the country. I request the people of the state not to worry about it. The matter is still pending before the Supreme Court. Nobody of any community should get the impression that if these laws are implemented, people will be removed from the country. We will ensure such a thing does not happen," Thackeray later said while interacting with media persons outside the legislature.

He urged the masses to protest, but not allow the matters to become violent and assured that no citizens would be affected nor their rights be affected in any manner.

Rushing to Beed, Home Minister Eknath Shinde appealed to all protestors that they are free to exercise their right to protest but they should not indulge in violence activities or damaging government properties, which the organisers must ensure.

There are no reports of any injuries to the passengers and police reinforcements were rushed to the affected sites to ward off any further violence, said an official.

Earlier, thousands took to the streets in Nagpur, Pune's Pimpri-Chinchwad, Aurangabad, Thane's Ambernath and Bhiwandi, Sangli, Hingoli, Beed, Nanded, Ahmednagar's Sangamner, Parbhani, Yavatmal, besides other towns to oppose the CAA-NRC.

Cutting across religious lines, thousands of youth and citizens besides several social organisations and local groups, joined the protests carrying banners, placards and posters, pictures of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, images of the Constitution, and demanded the scrapping of CAA-NRC.

This is the sixth consecutive day of protests in different parts of the state and happened a day after similar protests were held in Mumbai, Nagpur, Amravati, and over a dozen other cities and towns, and also by thousands of students in renowned state and Central universities in Maharashtra.

Source: IANS