Former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan detained for protesting against Citizenship Act

Former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan, who had resigned from service as mark of protest against the restrictions imposed in Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370, was detained during an agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Mumbai.

According to a Mumbai Mirror report, the police said Gopinathan was among a group of people who were gathered near Marine Drive in Mumbai to protest against the Act.

In a tweet, he dubbed the detention illegal. “Mumbai Police detained us and illegally and forcefully took us before even the protest began,” he tweeted.

"Get out and regain your constitutional rights! Else it will be gone forever," he wrote in another tweet while posting a picture of himself and another protesters along with the police. He appears to be carrying a copy of the Constitution in the picture.

There has been widespread protest against the Act which grants Indian citizenship to members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December31, 2014. In West Bengal, agitators resorted to violence and arson at railway stations and thoroughfares across the state, seeking immediate revocation of the Act. Meanwhile, Assam is witnessing one of the most violent protests by the people in its history with three railway stations, post office, bank, bus terminus and many other public properties being set ablaze or totally damaged.

(With PTI inputs)