Syed Khalique Ahmed | India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 3—After women in Shaheen Baug in South Delhi blocking Noida-Delhi road for the last 20 days to protest against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register for Citizens (NRC), women in other parts of the national capital have also come forward and joined the anti-CAA/NRC movement.
At historic Jama Masjid where the protest was conducted by men only, a large number of women have started organising their separate protests against the anti-Constitutional Law for the last two days.
Women from various localities of old Delhi like Jama Masjid, Chitli Qabar, Suiwalan and Turkman Gate are protesting at Gate Number One of the historic Jama Masjid for the last two days. On Thursday evening, they took out a candle march also and then sat on dharna for two hours on the steps of the Masjid till after 9 pm. Women in unison sang the national anthem at the steps of the Jama Masjid and raised slogans of “Hindustan Zindabad” (Long Live India) during the candle march. It was perhaps for the first time that the sounds of the national anthem was heard from the steps of the Jama Masjid. All the 39 steps of Gate No. One (Southern Gate) of the Masjid were crowded with women.
Taking out their march in a peaceful manner, women hailing from different background and age groups demanded withdrawal of CAA and proposed nationwide NRC, saying these were “anti-Constitutional” as the new citizenship law is based on religious classification. They said that the new law is in contravention of the secular principles of the Constitution under which there is no discrimination among citizens on the basis of their religion and faith.
Similar candle light protests are also being organised on a daily basis in Seelampur, Jafrabad and other Muslim-dominated areas by women pressing for withdrawal of CAA and NRC. Apart from police attacking students in Jamia Millia Islamia library on December 15, Delhi police had also mercilessly assaulted protesters in Seelampur and Jafrabad areas subsequently on the pretext that someone from among the protesters had indulged in stone pelting. A large number of protesters were injured, some of them seriously and many were arrested. Women say that when their children were being attacked by police for opposing an unconstitutional law, they cannot remain silent.
They say that previously, BJP and other outfits defamed the Muslim women saying that they were being forced by their menfolk to confine themselves within the four wall of their homes. “But we want to tell everyone that when our support is needed, we will not sit at home but march shoulder to shoulder with everyone”, said an elderly women who was sitting at dharna at Jama Masjid.
A women protester, Afrin Qureshi, at Jama Masjid said that it was for the first time in the history of independent India that women in such large numbers have come out of their homes to participate in rallies and dharnas, not only in Delhi but elsewhere in the country also.
Meanwhile, the protest at Shaheen Baug which attracted international headlines, continues round the clock for the last 20 days, with women from the nearby localities taking their turn in batches, bracing chilly winter. Women were at the protest site even on Friday morning despite some people circulating a rumour that the protest from the road was being withdrawn.
A young girl Zuniyara Irfan living in Jamia area wrote a poem on police brutalities at Jamia students and damages to Jamia library. It is being reproduced here.
“Is there someone to heed to the scream,
My country is burning to the extreme.
The books in the shelves heave a sigh,
The hands they dwelled in are beaten to die.
The students in colleges aren’t safe from danger,
Harassed are the girls by every other stranger.
The King is felicitated with the powers high,
And the public below is forced to cry.
Save my country, Ah! Come on guys,
It is calling you now open your eyes.”
