Anti-CAA protests: Anurag Kashyap, Aparna Sen and others ask for judicial probe into UP violence

Declaring that they don't support any form of vandalism, a group of film industry insiders, including Anurag Kashyap and Aparna Sen, on Thursday asked for an independent judicial probe into the violence against anti-CAA protesters in Uttar Pradesh.

The appeal to courts was read out at a press conference here by actors Swara Bhasker and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub.

Stating that they "do not endorse or support any form of violence or vandalism", the group said the "sacred right" of citizens to protest peacefully had been violated in the state.

The letter -- signed by filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Aparna Sen and Alankrita Shrivastava as well as actors Kubbra Sait, Mallika Dua, Konkona Sen-Sharma, Ayyub and Bhasker -- urged Indian courts "to take suo motu cognizance of what has ensued in UP and request that a judicial inquiry be instituted into the loss of life and limb and damage to property".

"The CAA itself, as a legislation, has sparked contrasting views. But irrespective of one's views on the merits of the law, there is something more fundamental that all of us agree on, in line with India's constitutional values - the right of citizens to protest peacefully; the duty of the state to respond proportionately, within the framework of law; and the ultimate role of courts in determining guilt and punishment."