CAA protests: Country's protection bigger priority not mine: Priyanka

Lucknow: As the news of the Citizenship Amendment Act being launched in India took height, several individuals from various states came out on roads in order to protst against it. They were later joined by many politicians and Bollywood stars too.

ALSO READ: Twinning goals! Milind and Ankita wear same jacket for the last run of 2019

Protesters fear the policy will shield non-Muslim illegal migrants identified by a pan-India NRC (the government now says there have been no talks on such a measure) and make a large number of Muslims stateless.

Dozens have been killed during the demonstrations, many of them in Uttar Pradesh. BJP leaders have said the government didn't anticipate the anti-CAA protests, which have now gone on for weeks.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addressed a press conference in Lucknow.

Live Updates Here:

My security is a small issue, country's protection bigger priority: Priyanka

Priyanka stings Yogi over ‘revenge’ remark: Wearing saffron not enough, follow dharma

My security is a small issue, country's protection bigger priority: Priyanka

Priyanka slams UP CM Yogi Adityanath for 'revenge' comment

Priyanka demands judicial enquiry into UP cops' conduct

In a letter to Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has asked for a judicial enquiry into the state police's "unlawful conduct" during protests against the CAA and the NRC.

The police, she wrote, have "run amok throughout the state creating an atmosphere of terror, discrimination, and oppression, thus ensuring that protesters are intimidated into silence and infringing on the....fundamental rights of every citizen of India".

ALSO READ: Google Pixel 4a renders leak show a punch-hole display and 3.5mm jack

She blamed 23 deaths in UP on "police excesses" and "brutality" against protesters.

No one will have to leave India, says Mamata before Purulia march

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has lashed out at the Centre for trying to brand the protesters against CAA as "anti-nationals" and urged political parties and civil society groups to join hands and isolate the BJP across India.

Banerjee accused the BJP of trying to take away the citizenship of legal citizens of the country (the government has repeatedly said CAA does not do this) and said she would not allow the updation of the National Population Register (NPR) -- which has already been stayed by her government.

"BJP is planning to take away citizenship of legal citizens. I would appeal to everybody to join hands against the BJP and isolate them every where," Mamata Banerjee said before the commencement of her 5-km-long protest march in Purulia town.

Those conducting peaceful protests are being called anti-national, the TMC boss said.

"I will not stop my protest till the CAA is withdrawn. Just ensure that your names are there in voters list. The rest will be taken care of by me. No one will have to leave this country," she said.

Priyanka didn't inform us about Lucknow scooty ride: CRPF

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) says Priyanka Gandhi Vadra didn't inform it in advance of her two-wheeler ride in Lucknow on Saturday (a Congress party worker was driving). It pointed out that the senior Congress leader travelled without personal security on a non-bullet resistant vehicle. "Despite security constraints, adequate security cover was provided by CRPF," the force said.

The CRPF also said it had informed Priyanka Gandhi about the security lapse and advised her to take make proper security arrangements in the future.

ALSO READ: Pakistan Taliban commander Qari Saifullah Mehsud shot dead in Afghan