Congress to hold 'dharna' against CAA, NRC on Sunday

Congress will hold a 'dharna' at Raj Ghat in Delhi on Sunday against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Meanwhile, the party has also decided to conduct a silent protest in Congress-ruling states which will be led by the respective Chief Ministers.

This comes a day after Sonia Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led central government, stating that the ruling party has shown utter disregard to the people's voice by using "brute force" to suppress dissent and assured the people that her party is committed to defending their fundamental rights.

"There have been protests in the universities and academic institutions throughout the country against division agenda and anti-people policies of the BJP government. In a democracy, people have the right to raise their voice against policies of the government and register their concerns," said Gandhi in a video message.

The Congress chief said that the amended Citizenship Act is "discriminatory" and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will particularly hurt the poor.

Protests erupted across the country over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which seeks to grant citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who entered India on or before 31, 2014.