Christian community members take out rally in protest against CAA

Members of the Christian community took out a silent rally in the city on Boxing Day on Thursday to register their protests against the new citizenship law.

The rallyists carried placards with slogans like 'Don't be silent, don't be violent', 'We are all citizens', 'No NRC no CAA' and walked a distance of 2 km from St Paul's Cathedral in the city.

The rally was preceded by sermons in which church leaders harped on the need for "unity and peace in the present turbulent times".

The focus of the midnight mass at St Paul's Cathedral, the main church of the Kolkata Diocese of the Church of North India, was the current divisive atmosphere.

The Vicar-general of the Archdiocese of Kolkata, Father Dominic Gomes told reporters, "We are standing in solidarity with those affected. Only the poor will be harassed, not the rich. Many will not be able to produce documents and they will suffer."

Stating that "Unity in diversity is the soul of India," the senior Christian community leader said "The Indian democracy and Constitution unequivocally states that we are all citizens and nobody should divide us."

Alvin D'Souza, one of the participants in the rally said, "We denounce the politics of hatred."

We had invited people of all faiths to walk in the rally against CAA, Gomes said.

Parish priests of several churches under the diocese had mentioned the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens in the morning mass on Christmas Day and spoke of maintaining calm and being united.