‘We have to see if Amit Shah’s ego will win or the country’s Constitution’

In a sign that the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests are still gathering steam after having thinned off last week, at least 500 citizens joined a march against the divisive Act from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar in the Capital on Monday. Similar protests were reported from Mumbai, Varanasi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

Organised under the banner of ‘Young India against CAA-NRC-NPR’, an comprising of over 100 student and youth organisations — including All India Students' Association (AISA), Students' Federation of India (SFI), Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) and National Students' Union of India — the protestors appealed to the Supreme Court to strike down the Act.

Criticising Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, activist Umar Khalid emphasised, “This government which wants papers from all of us will not show us papers of who funds them. They only want citizens to be transparent, but they refuse to show any papers. They have started snooping on all activists, while they have closed all doors of information including the Right to Information Act. This fight is to remain as citizens of this country.”

“During the time of the freedom struggle, the followers of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) behaved like traitors and even know that is exactly what they are doing. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi must go to Shaheen Bagh and speak to the protestors. But he will not go there as he does not believe in dialogue. He will only go fall into the arms of US President Donald Trump,” added Khalid.

Questioning the actions of the current BJP government, Khalid asked why the Prime Minister of the country was not heading to Assam where at least five persons had been killed in the protests against Citizenship Amendment Act, or to Uttar Pradesh or Bihar where several protestors were killed or injured.

“The youth of the country want education and jobs. While demanding these, the youth will also step out to protect the Constitution. The only factory that is functioning in this country is the lies factory of Modi and Shah,” quipped Khalid.

Delhi University Professor Lakshman Yadav said, “The government attempted to paint the protestors as mostly Muslim, but we know that is not true. Then Amit Shah said that he would not move an inch on CAA. The very fact that he has said this shows that these protests are worrying the government. We have to see if Amit Shah’s ego will win or the country’s Constitution.”

“The outcome of these protests will be decided on the streets and in our hearts and not in Parliament and this government. Those in power said only Muslims will protest, but how wrong they were. When was the last time people got out on the streets for Hindu-Muslim unity? It was 73 years ago by Mahatma Gandhi when he sat on a fast in Delhi for communal harmony,” highlighted Harsh Mander, a former IAS officer and human rights activist.

Underlining the difference between the anti-CCA protests and protests just before the imposition of Emergency, scientist and poet Gauhar Raza said, “The JP movement began with violence and ended with violence. But the youngsters of India have shown what non-violent protests are. Violence happens only in BJP-ruled states. India is changing; Modi and Shah need to realise that. Women and children are out on the streets protecting the Constitution.”

Highlighting the permeating nature of the protests, Dipankar Bhattacharya, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation said, “Now people are carrying their protests against Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens and National Population Register to even cricket matches. The Constitution of the country is our manifesto. If today this Act is discriminating between Hindus and Muslims, tomorrow it will be on the basis of caste and then it would be between men and women. The Home Minister must realise the citizens of the country will not move an inch.”