At least 30,000 people from across the state participated in a massive rally organized by Tamil Nadu Thawheed Jamath (TNTJ) in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Alandur on 28 December 2019, Saturday. People carrying banners and placards protested against CAA and NRC as well as the Centre alleging that the government was biased and was trying to corner the Muslim community.
Many women and children waved the Tricolour and displayed slogans written on placards. Support to the protests has been intensifying with non-Islamic people also joining the protesters. Police personnel were deployed in and around the vicinity of the protest, though there was no violence. B Abdul Rahman, TNTJ state vice-president and media wing coordinator, said, “We estimate that more than 3,000 vehicles brought people from across the state for the rally. Many of them were forced to take diversions and managed to arrive at Alandur court only after 4 pm when the protest had ended.” He claimed that about 1,00,000 protesters took part in the event. “Though Sunnath Jamath differs with us, they also participated in huge numbers,” said Rahman.
Slogans were raised against CAA and NRC. “We ask every individual in India to be treated equally, India stands for secularism,” said Imran, a TNTJ member. “India is not anti-Islamic, the Centre is prejudiced against Islamic people,” said another TNTJ member. Holding a 650-metre Tricolour. the crowd raised slogans. Placards reading ‘Down with Fascism’, ‘Reject CAA and NRC’, ‘We are Indians’, ‘India is a secular nation’ and ‘Do not hate us’ were displayed by a number of people.
While the plan was to march towards Raj Bhavan, police denied permission. “However, we allowed the march towards Acko colony for more than 1km,” said a police officer. According to police, around 5,000 personnel and 500 Special Action Group members were deployed to control the crowd and traffic around Grand Southern Trunk Road and Anna Salai areas. The organisers had arranged water and refreshment booths, three ambulances and makeshift medical camps in the vicinity to attend to the needs of the people. Traffic came to a halt for about an hour on GST Road till airport, on Anna Salai till Nandanam, and on Mount Poonamallee High Road till Ramapuram with vehicles stranded on Kathipara flyover. Traffic police, however, cleared the way for ambulances and vehicles plying towards airport subsequently. Adding to the woes, motorists trying to avoid main roads entered interior roads choking them.
Women take the lead at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh sit-in
Shaheen Bagh emerged as the focal point of resistance against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). While protests at other places such as Mandi House and Jantar Mantar have come and gone in waves, the women of Shaheen Bagh have been unrelenting, having vowed not to withdraw their agitation until CAA is “rolled back” or the Centre “promises not to implement NRC”.
From the stage, there are no fiery speeches, loud sloganeering or flag waving. Instead, speakers regale the audience with poetry, songs and plays, while a projector occasionally plays documentaries. “We are not here to oppose anything. We are here to uphold our Constitution, the only holy book, the Constitution of Ambedkar. We are telling people that the book is being tinkered with and we won’t let that happen,” Sayed, who lives in Shaheen Bagh, says. Asked whether the elders, especially men, take offence to her admonishing them, Sayed says, “Instead, people ring me up when I don’t turn up.”
Explaining why women are leading the charge here, Adeela, a homemaker, says, “More than anything else, NRC will have a devastating impact on families. We hold our families together. More than the men, women from families with limited means are vulnerable in terms of not having proper documents to establish their identity, let alone descent.” Shakeela Bano says the visuals of Delhi Police assaulting students of Jamia Millia Islamia left many women in the area shaken, drawing them to the protest site.
While political faces such as Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, CPM leader Brinda Karat and former Congress MLA Asif Mohammed Khan have stopped by the gathering, the coordination work is being done by Aasif Mujtaba (30), a PhD scholar at IIT Delhi. Under Mujtaba, around six groups of volunteers take care of the safety of women, preventing the entry of dubious elements, providing medical aid, arranging food and bedding for those staying overnight.
Groups of policemen posted in the area keep an eye on the gathering from a distance. Locals said many shopkeepers have approached the police to clear the road, citing loss of business. The protest has blocked a key stretch —Kalindi Kunj Road— linking the densely populated Shaheen Bagh with the satellite township of Noida for 10 days and 11 nights.
