Nearly 2,000 people protested peacefully against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) at the Bapu Vatika in Morabadi here on Thursday.

A large number of people comprising activists, students, women including many in burqa, and members of various minority, tribal and political parties and civil society outfits took part in the Sankalp Sabha as the protest was named, hosted by the Sajha Manch, an united forum.

They started by reading out the Preamble of the Constitution under the statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

Many speakers, irrespective of religious or political affiliation, described the CAA, NRC and NPR as “anti-constititional and anti-people”.

“The CAA violates Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution,” pointed out well-known activist Balram, adding that jal-jangal-jameen and the culture of the people of Jharkhand speak volumes about nationality. “Nothing else is required to prove it.”

“The BJP and RSS want to break the unity and social fabric of the country and spread hatred among communities,' alleged Ibrar Ahmad, the chief of the local Anjuman Islamia, a minority social outfit.

“The people of Jharkhand, in the Assembly recent polls, have rejected the BJP for its anti-people agenda,” said tribal activist Dayamani Barla, describing the CAA, NRC and NRP as “anti-people”.

Those who attended it included members of the United Milli Forum, the Anjuman Islamia, the Majlis-e-Ulema (Jharkhand), Muslim Youth Forum, political parties such as the Congress, the RJD, JVM, the Aam Admi Party and the CPI, and the organisations such as the National Alliance for People’s Movement, the All-India Students Federation, the Ulgunan Sena, the Janvadi Lekhak Sangh and the Indian People's Theatre Association.

Former Congress Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay and other leaders sat through the proceedings to express their solidarity. Protesters carried placards with slogans opposing the CAA, NRC and NPR and “Mazhab nahi sikhata aapas mein bair rakhna from Allama Iqbal’s famous poem Saare Jahan Se Achcha...

Afzal Anees, an organiser, said the event was so peaceful that CM Hemant Soren’s motorcade passed peacefully.

Hemant, it is now known, opposed NRC and CAA and also expressed it through a two-part tweet on December 29. “I don’t think the NRC is feasible or implementable. The entire country is up in arms against CAA...”