Amid continuing anti-CAA protests in parts of the country, Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar on Saturday, 22 February, said no Shaheen Bagh type stir would be allowed in the city.
The top cop requested political parties and others to apply for permission as per proper procedure for holding protests.
“There is no Shaheen Bagh like incident in Hyderabad. Do not compare Hyderabad with places where all these negative things are happening. Nothing like Shaheen Bagh will be allowed in Hyderabad..impossible,”Anjani Kumar, Hyderabad Commissioner of Police
“The Hyderabad Police will take legal action if common public is put to inconvenience,” he reiterated.
“Political protests are important but law and order is more important,” Kumar said, adding that Hyderabad city has seen more than 200 protests/rallies (anti-Citizenship Amendment Act and also pro-CAA).
“During such protests at other places in the country, there have been burning of vehicles, firing, people sitting for a month on dharna, but in Hyderabad such things are not happening,” he said.
“It is only because Hyderabad Police are concerned about safety, security and comfort of common public,” he said.
"...At every place if you want to sit on dharna then it will cause inconvenience to common public and hence we have taken legal action and booked cases pertaining to some places where the protests were held," he said.
The top cop also posted on Twitter, stating that democracy works on expressing views but there are boundaries.
“If there is denial (for permission for holding protests) there are reasons. Some vested interests have approached courts and the court has given guidelines and court guidelines are supreme. Whatever conditions we are putting is as per judgment of the High Court,” the police chief said.
Reacting to a query, D S Chauhan, Additional Commissioner of Police, (Law & Order) said right to protest does not mean right to continued protests every day.
At Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi, protesters have been on a sit-in against the new citizenship law for over two months.
Two interlocutors were appointed by the Supreme Court to initiate talks with the protesters. Protests have also been organised in different parts of the city by different organisations including political parties against the CAA, National Register of Citizens and National Population Register.
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