Midnight flash protest breaks out in Hyderabad city

Hyderabad: In a bid to find a proper place for continuous protests like 'Shaheen Bagh' in Delhi, flash protests led by women activists came as a surprise to the police officials at Tolichowki on Sunday night, who took some activists into custody and booked cases.

As the messages on social media called upon the public to gather at Tolichowki crossroads, women started assembling below the flyover and began protesting by 9 pm. By midnight, scores of youth also joined the protesters who resorted to sloganeering, demanding scrapping of CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and withdrawal of NPR (National Population Register) and proposed NRC (National Register of Citizens) by the Union government.

The peaceful protest was the first of its kind led by women protestors at Tolichowki, which attracted attention of onlookers who joined the protest, holding national flags. The event gathered momentum by midnight as most of the youth in the area generally remain awake till lake night hours. The police officials who were alerted about this tried to quell the group and later called in women police to clear them. "This was an attempt to replicate Shaheen Bagh-type protest which has become a symbol of peaceful resistance," said one of the activists.

One of the activists, Khalida Parveen, who runs Amoomat Society, was one of the organisers of the protest. She was able to garner support with the active cooperation of some local youth. On earlier occasions, too, she was amongst the activists who took part in the flash protest at Buddha statue and other places, which went viral on social media and stirring up the cause. By earlier hours on Monday, as many as 25 persons (most of them youth) who were part of this flash protest were taken into custody by Golconda police, after their attempts to disperse the mob failed.

They were shifted to Goshamahal police stadium and cases were also booked against them and later released after serving notices. "We have joined the protest voluntarily and this is silent protest. As this was not the busiest route and under the flyover we tried to minimise traffic disturbance and there was not law and order problem. Police tried to stop and later arrested," said another activist.