On Wednesday 18th December, students from across universities gathered outside the Indian high commission in London to protests against India’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Organised by the India Society of the School of Oriental and African Studies, the protests were supported by academics as well from other universities, including the London School of Economics (LSE), and Cambridge University.
The protesters raised famous Indian revolutionary slogans such as “Inqalab Zindabad” and waved placards against the Indian government’s move to impose the CAA.
India introduced CAA in a bid to protect the minorities who left Muslim majority countries to reach India due to religious persecution. The Indian High Commission in London gave an explanation on CAA through a ‘Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019’ document, addressing the various aspects of the new act.
“There has been a misinformation campaign. The CAA does not affect any Indian citizen, including Muslim citizens,” the government has clarified.
"It has absolutely nothing to do with any Indian citizen in any way. The Indian citizens enjoy fundamental rights conferred on them by the Constitution of India. No statute, including the CAA, can abridge or take them away," it said.
Meanwhile, Harsev Bains, National Vice President of Indian Workers’ Association Great Britain (IWA-GB), said, "This hurriedly approved bill has at a stroke removed rights, especially from Muslim migrants. It undermines the basis of India’s secular democratic constitution.”
IWA-GB is an 80-year-old Britain-based diaspora group.
He further added, "We, as patriotic Indians, feel let down and angered that our great country, that led the way in diversity and tolerance, should act in such a manner. Refugees from all over the world have always been welcomed and accommodated in India. Never before has India introduced exceptions and exclusions based on faith.”
The protest in the British capital coincided with protests at universities across India since the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in the lower house of the Indian parliament last week.
The India Society of the University of Oxford was among the groups to organise protests earlier this week.
