It’s been two months of ‘resistance’ in the national capital against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and there are no visible signs of reconciliation or, even a temporary truce, anytime soon.
The coming of the law, which guarantees full citizenship rights to persecuted non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, touched off a fire, which, in a matter of weeks, took several parts of the country in its leaping embrace.
It wasn’t long before the fire of ‘resistance’, which started outside the iconic campus of Jamia Millia Islamia, spread to the streets, public places and elsewhere.
However, if there’s one place in the national capital which has now become synonymous with the anti-CAA protest, it is Shaheen Bagh, a residential colony on the fringes of south Delhi, bordering Uttar Pradesh.
Doughty and determined
Determined and undaunted, a motley crew of women sat in protest on a major highway, sending out a clear message to the powers that be that they won’t budge till the vexed citizenship law is rolled back.
In a departure from the violent protests, which saw batons raining on agitators as they tried to breach police barricades and public and police vehicles torched, the Shaheen Bagh women, of all ages, sat out bitterly cold nights, holding up banners displaying a quiet resolve to see their struggle through to, what they hoped, would be a fulfilling end.
Over time, their numbers increased, to the extent that the Shaheen Bagh protesters are now the most-identifiable faces of the ‘resistance’.
Undeterred by the incident on January 28, when a lone-wolf attacker fired in the air and threatened the protesters and the label of being backed by ‘vested elements in the Opposition’, the Shaheen Bagh women continue to soldier on.
They have pledged not to go home till Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah take back the “black law”.
“We are strong-willed and no one can shake our resolve. Our protest will continue till such time Modiji and Amit Shah meet our demand and take back the black citizenship law. They must stop lying to the people and address our concern. The day our objective is fulfilled, we’ll head back home,” Shakeela Begum (47), a homemaker from Shaheen Bagh, told this correspondent.
Tabassum Parveen, another homemaker, said that the first day of protest was mostly about their anger at their children being “targeted” at Jamia.
However, little did they know then that the protest would turn into a “big movement” and come to symbolise the ‘resistance’ against the CAA, she said.
“Exactly, two months ago, we came out on the street to protest against the barbaric attack on students at Jamia. We had no idea then that it would become such a big and strong movement. It took us a while to realise that our protest had become a symbol of resistance against the CAA. Across faiths, we all came together to take this movement forward. We’re Indians first and foremost and will live and die for the country,” Parveen said.
From fire to fireball
The fire in Delhi became a fireball on December 15, 2019, when city police personnel allegedly stormed the Jamia campus and rained blows on students, injuring around 200 and damaging property worth about Rs 2 crore.
Even as protests broke out across the country, in Delhi, the Jamia fire spilled onto the precincts of Shaheen Bagh first before spreading to Khureji, Inderlok, Seelampur, Nizammuddin, Beri Wala Bagh, Jama Masjid, Jaffrabad and Hauz Rani, among others.
And, women were largely at the forefront of these protests. Locals set up committees, the members of which were picked from among the crowd of protesters, to arrange shelters for those sitting in, put up barricades and distribute meals and refreshments, among other chores.
The volunteers also got activists and noted personalities to address the protesters and even organised shows by poets and musicians to ensure the spirits didn’t flag.
“Rainy days were especially challenging for us, as we didn’t have a proper shelter and raindrops leaked from the makeshift roof. As some people came forward to help us with food, we urged them to arrange for a proper shelter instead. Soon, they surrounded the scene of protest with plastic sheets,” Saima Chowdhury, a local from Khureji, said.
Drawing inspiration from their counterparts at Shaheen Bagh, six women sat in protest next to a fuel station at Khureji. While the protest has since grown in size, the women have been keeping a careful watch on outsiders to ensure security, as well as law and order.
Wary after YouTuber and saffron sympathiser Gunja Kapoor, in a burqa, was caught sneaking into the protest site with a camera, the women at Shaheen Bagh had a metal detector installed at the scene for a mandatory security check.
Security checkpoints have also been set up at the protest sites in the wake of firing incidents — two near Jamia and one at Shaheen Bagh.
Volunteer service
“We are among the locals. While we carry out separate tasks that have been assigned to each one of us, a metal detector has been installed for a security check of women visiting the spot. It also helps us keep out potential troublemakers,” said a volunteer on duty at Shaheen Bagh, who asked not to be named.
How it became political
While the protesters strove to keep politics out of the stir, the Shaheen Bagh movement became a big talking point for netas ahead of the elections for the Delhi Assembly.
It became the centre point, no less, of the BJP’s campaign.Canvassing for a party candidate in the national capital, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath raised the Shaheen Bagh protest claiming Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was treating the protesters with biryani. He also alleged that the protest was sponsored.
However, the protesters were quick to debunk the claims when quizzed about it.
“Why does the government have a problem with biryani? Is it because it is identified with Muslims? We live like a community and share what we eat.
Our Sikh brothers have also opened langars (community kitchens) at most protest sites. This is clearly a ploy to paint us as traitors.
However, all the lies have been called out. We’re fighting for everyone. Anyone, irrespective of which community they belong to, can bring food for us and even join us for a meal,” Anam Khannum (name changed), a protester from Sarai Kale Khan.
She has been a regular at the protests sites at Nizamuddin and Shaheen Bagh. “Though I don’t bring cooked food, I get oranges and grapes for the protesters, whenever possible,” she said.
Balancing act
One of the challenges for women protesters is to manage their household chores and keep the activism going.
“We don’t come here to take in the sights and sounds around us. The government must understand that we send our children to school and cook for our family members before coming here to fight for our rights. Sometimes, I ask my elder daughter to watch her younger siblings at home while I’m out protesting. At times, I send my elder daughter to to shuttle between protest sites while I’m taking care of the younger ones at home,” said Sakeena, another protester.