ShaheenBagh-type stir will not be allowed in Hyderabad:Top cop

Amid continuing anti-CAA protests in parts of the country, Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar on Saturday 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 the proper procedure for holding protests.

"There is no Shaheen Bagh like the 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 told reporters.

The Hyderabad Police will take legal action if the common public is put to inconvenience, he reiterated. Political protests are important but law and order are more important, Kumar said, adding, 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 the safety, security, and comfort of the common public, he said.

"...At every place, if you want to sit on dharna then it will cause inconvenience to the common public and hence we have taken legal action and booked cases about some places where the protests were held," he said. "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 it is as per judgment of the High Court," the police chief said. Reacting to a query, Additional Commissioner of Police, (Law & Order)D S Chauhan said the 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 organized in different parts of the city by different organizations including political parties against the CAA, National Register of Citizens and National Population Register.