Panaji, Dec 19 (IANS): Several thousand members of civil society organisations and representatives of non-BJP parties held a meeting in the state capital on Wednesday to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the violence in various parts of the country related to the controversial new citizenship law.

The dharna was attended by several protesters at Panaji's Azad maidan, who said that the new Act, which allows Hindus, Parsis, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs facing religious persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh to adopt Indian citizenship, was unconstitutional.

"The Citizenship Amendment Act is unconstitutional and is aimed at dividing India on the lines of religion," Arvind Bhatikar, a retired Indian Administrative Service officer, who was one of the convenors of the protest meeting, said.

The General Secretary of the state unit of Aam Aadmi Party, Pradeep Padgaonkar, said that CAA went against the secular fabric of the country.

"The CAA targets a specific community and the new law appears to be an attempt to alienate them from the country," Padgaonkar said, demanding an immediate repealing of the legislation.