New Delhi: Hundreds of students, activists and concerned citizens assembled at the Jantar Mantar on December 7, to oppose the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the tabled Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in parliament. They decided to start a countrywide civil disobedience movement against CAB and NRC, NPR process.
The mass meeting, to educate and mobilise people about the repercussions that would take place if the bills become a law, was called by United Against Hate (UAH), a citizen’s group, which has a first-hand experience of the plight and despair that engulfed Assam, when the now-discarded NRC was being implemented.
Addressing the mass assembly also included Yogendra Yadav of Swaraj India Abhiyan, who pointed out, “CAB sabotages the fundamental secular character of India. Yes, Indian secularism has many limitations but CAB tends to destroy it completely. The CAB does not talk about persecuted minorities from non-Muslim nations. It does not talk about Muslim minorities from Muslim nation. It is highly discriminatory.”
The huge congregation, was also addressed by Javed Ali, Congress MP from Kishanganj. The lone MP present at the gathering claimed, “BJP-led government is being brazenly majoritarian. They are also Muslim haters and they are no-longer hiding this fact. We have been elected in the parliament to safeguard the constitution and we will fight for it.”
Ali during his speech also challenged Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to prove his secular credentials by taking a clear stand against CAB and NRC.
Nadeem Khan of UAH said, “Irrespective of the opposition parties, the citizens of this country will completely boycott NRC and CAB. We will do a Civil Disobedience against this. We shall also question and surround the opposition party leaders who will betray us.”
While youth leader Umar Khalid said on the occassion, “This is a renewed attempt to implement Savarkar’s Two Nations Theory. NRC and CAB has to be completely boycotted in order to safeguard our democracy.” Khalid is also a member of UAH.
Nadeem Khan of UAH said, “Irrespective of the opposition parties, the citizens of this country will completely boycott NRC and CAB. We will do a Civil Disobedience against this. We shall also question and surround the opposition party leaders who will betray us.”
Meanwhile, Satish Ch Yadav, General Secretary JNUSU, call for all the students across India to fight against the attempts being made to communally polarise this country.
While N. Sai Balaji, All India President of AISA said, “CAB or NRC is a dream of Golwalkar and Savarkar. Leaders like Sardar Patel had rejected this poisonous ideology. People across India are struggling for jobs, economy, women’s safety and protection of the constitution. NRC and CAB is anti-people, anti-tribals, anti-dalits and anti-minority, we will fight tooth and nail against it.”
Afreen Fatima, one of the participants maintained that mere assembling at the Jantar Mantar to voice anti-NRC and anti-CAB mood of the society didn’t end with the recently concluded meet. Rather, it has marked the beginning of the public fight against the biased policy.
Manmohan Gama from Samajwadi party mentioned that by taking such inhuman steps government is also hiding economic failure, “This government constantly tries to divert the population from real agenda. NRC is a desperate attempt to cover the economic slowdown. Muslims who stayed back during Partition are the real patriots and no one can drive them away from the country. This is a democracy and the despots will be one day driven away.”
Huzaifa Rashid, General Secretary from AMUSU condemned NRC and the communal anti-constitutional CAB and has vouched to fight against it. The Jantar Mantar programme concluded with the attendees resolving to continue and intensify the fight against NRC and CAB.
