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The Wankhede stadium in Mumbai was the stage to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens on Tuesday. Fans at the venue used the first One Day International between India and Australia to voice their concern over the amended citizenship law in the country.
As intense as the proceedings on the ground when India batted first, were the chants of 'No CAA, No NRC' from sections in the stands.
Attired in white T-shirts, with split alphabets 'NO CAA', 'NO NRC', 'NO NPR' imprinted, fans teamed up and protested peacefully amid all the din at the stadium.
Fahad Ahmad, a students' leader, in a statement, said, "We, the students of Mumbai are at Wankhede stadium India v/s Australia match for peacefully showing our message depicting, 'No NPR, NO NRC and NO CAA'.
"We won’t do anything apart from silently showing our messages which are written on our t-shirts. BCCI rule also affirms that you can convey your message apart from commercial messages.
"There were 26 persons in total and they were sitting in the Vijay Merchant Pavilion side. They themselves vacated the stadium as Indian wickets were falling in a heap."
Earlier in the day, social media was abuzz that people wearing black would not be allowed inside the stadium by security guards fearing protests, but a senior Mumbai Cricket Association Apex Council official claimed that no such diktat was issued.
"There was no diktat about any colour, no posters of any sort were permitted inside the stadium as it was the instruction from the local police," the MCA member added.