Woman dies during anti-CAA protests

Kolkata : A woman protestor at the anti-CAA gathering in Park Circus Maidan here died early on Sunday after she fell ill at the venue.

The woman, identified as Sameeda Khatun, 56, a resident of Entally in central Kolkata, suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the Islamia hospital where she was declared dead.

Khatun, said to be an asthma patient, was regularly taking part in the demonstration over the past 15 days. "Every day, she would arrive around 3 p.m. and stay till 1 a.m.," said a protester.

As a mark of respect to Khatun, the loudspeakers were switched off on Sunday morning by the protestors as they observed silence in her memory.

At least 60 artists from various parts of the country on Sunday vented their anger against the CAA-NRC-NPR regime on canvas at Mumbra in Maharashtra's Thane district.

The "Mumbra Shaheen Bagh" protest was organised by the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice, the Secular Art Movement of Maharashtra, the Artist Rises for India and local activists in solidarity with the Shaheen Bagh protesters in Delhi.

Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja called upon secular and democratic forces of the country to join hands to oust the BJP from power accusing it of trying to polarise the society on religious lines by bringing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Addressing a public meeting on the first day of the three-day CPI national council meeting here, Raja said the new citizenship law is not only against Muslims, but also "against the poor, Dalits, tribals and common people".

He said the party is launching a "BJP Hatao, Desh Banchao" campaign. "By bringing in the CAA, the BJP and the RSS want to break India, divide people, want to polarise society. This is their sinister design."