Anti-CAA Movement and Shaheen Bagh: When Women Led A Resistance Against Fascism in India

Main Har Shahar Ka Shaheen Bagh Hoon by Farah Naqvi

In 2019, as Narendra Modi returned to power with an increased majority, the majoritarian agenda of BJP/RSS was unleashed upon India. In August, Jammu & Kashmir was divided and stripped of its statehood, put under a communication blackout and a curfew, its leaders were imprisoned and media was suppressed, and the Article 370 of the Constitution was abrogated.

Meanwhile, in August, the final list of National Register of Citizens (NRC), conducted in Assam under the supervision of the Supreme Court, was published. NRC was a long-standing demand in Assam, which had witnessed large-scale immigration of refugees during the Bangladesh Liberation War. BJP had campaigned on the issue of “outsiders” in Assam and used xenophobia to polarise the voters, calling them termites. The final list of NRC left out 19 lakh people without a home, out of which 13 lakh were Hindus. This meant that BJP, for whom “outsiders” meant Muslims, was not on the same page as the people of Assam.

In December, Modi Government introduced the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in the Parliament. A few months before, Amit Shah described the “chronology” of the CAB-NRC. Shah explained, first, CAA would grant citizenship to the refugees, then NRC would drive out the infiltrators. Under the theory of Hindutva, the immigrant Hindus are the refugees, while the immigrant Muslims are illegal infiltrators. Amid protests in the Parliament, the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on the midnight of 9th December, and in Rajya Sabha on the 11th December. It received President's Assent on 12 December and became an Act of the Constitution.

Citizenship Amendment Act would grant Citizenship of India to non-Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who entered India before 2014. Which means, for the first time in Indian history, the citizenship of India was linked to a religious identity.

While the proponents of the act claimed that it would grant citizenship to the persecuted refugees, the reality was albeit much different. The bill would only be applicable for the refugees who entered India before 2014, and would only reduce the requirement of naturalization from fourteen years to five years. The Act would only be applicable for the refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The argument of citizenship to the refugees is disingenuous. India already has a provision of citizenship by naturalization, and has provided shelter to the persecuted refugees throughout its history. According to the Government's own estimates, the act would help only 30,000 people, all of whom would already be eligible for citizenship by 2028, under the old provision.

Citizenship Amendment Act was by no means a sincere act to grant shelter to the refugees, but a part of the larger agenda of Hindutva. The act was an attempt to use the Constitution to legitimize the idea of Hindutva, created by VD Savarkar and MS Golwalkar, while rejecting the idea of an inclusive India. The act further violated Article 14 (equality before law irrespective of religion) of the Constitution of India. Furthermore, as the experience of Assam shows, NRC is a faulty, expensive, tedious, and discriminatory exercise. In a nation, where a large population does not have their own documents in correct order, asking one to prove the citizenship of their parents and grandparents is a cruel joke. Lakhs of people would be left homeless, to fight cases, or sent to detention centres. In Assam, the Citizenship Amendment Act led to widespread protests.

CAA-NRC was a communal and divisive agenda of the BJP, and our students were the first to see through it. Peaceful demonstrations were organized in JMI, AMU, JNU, JU. On the night of December 15, police entered the Jamia Millia University and Aligarh Muslim University and assaulted the protesting students. Peaceful protesters were violently beaten up, and library, reading rooms, classrooms, were ransacked. On January 5, an ABVP-led mob attacked protesters in JNU. A reign of terror continued across Delhi and Uttar Pradesh over the following weeks.

Meanwhile, a nationwide protest on December 19, led to a detention of Yogendra Yadav, Sitaram Yechury, D Raja, Brinda Karat, Ram Guha, Harsh Mander among dozens of prominent leaders. On December 21, Chandrashekhar Azad was arrested while leading a protest march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar. On December 31, activists and leaders from across the nation met in Mumbai to launch a nationwide movement against CAA-NRC, under the banner of “WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA”.

As violence was orchestrated against the peaceful protesters, a spark of resistance emerged from Shaheen Bagh in Delhi. In the shivering winters of December, women of Shaheen Bagh began a sit-in protest that would inspire similar protests across the nation. Bilkis Bano, a grandmother of Shaheen Bagh, became a symbol of resistance across the world. Sit-in protests, primarily led by women, emerged across the nation.

The movement also saw numerous young women leading protests and braving assaults. Images of girls defending against police became iconic. Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal, Safoora Zargar, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha, Ishrat Jahan, Kavita Krishnan, and countless women led the movement against the discriminatory act.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath, who believes that women must not be left free, mocked these protesters. The rebellious women were an affront to the ideas of BJP/RSS, who believe that women must be restricted to household chores. These women braved countless assaults, insults, and abuses. Yet, they remained resolute in the face of these attacks.

The anti-CAA movement, which took place in the form of sit-in dharnas, were a model of Gandhian Satyagraha. It was one of the most peaceful and patriotic movement ever organized, as evidenced by the slogans, songs, emblems, speeches, and the very characteristic of the movement. It was a movement for the very idea of India. The protesters braved assault, lathicharge, police brutalities, and even gun firings. Mainstream media and IT Cell used propaganda to defame and vilify the protests. BJP politicians, including Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma, Kapil Mishra incited hatred and promoted violence against these protests, which culminated in a pogrom in Delhi. As vengeful slogans were shouted out against the protest, mobs carried out an assault throughout Delhi. Police stood by for the first two days, and then helped the BJP mobs. The CCTV cameras were broken. Delhi HC judge, Justice S Murlidhar, who ordered the police to take action, was immediately transferred.

As the pandemic stalled the government, and put a hold on all protests, the government used this moment even more malevolently. The administration used the pretext of COVID to break apart the protests. While the nation was under lockdown, the Police filed chargesheet against leaders, activists, and academicians, including Sitaram Yechury, Yogendra Yadav, Jayati Ghosh, Apoorvanand, Harsh Mander, Rahul Roy. Thousands of people, including Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal, Safoora Zargar, were arrested during and after the movement. Many remain in prison even today, without a proper trial.

According to reports, the Government is likely to notify the rules of CAA before the announcement of 2024 Elections. This betrays the true intention behind the law, as a communal and divisive agenda of the BJP meant to polarise the voters for electoral gains.

Yet, while the anti-CAA movement ended in March 2020, the fire lit by the women of Shaheen Bagh and brave daughters of India, inspired countless resistance across India. A few months later, when farmers stood up against the three farm laws, an image of Shaheen Bagh was discernible at Singhu. Shaheen Bagh and the anti-CAA movement continues to stand as a testimony to the women's resistance against Hindutva.

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