Delhi protesters march to Home minister’s residence today

NEW DELHI: Protesters at Shaheen Bagh on Saturday announced they will march to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's residence on Sunday (today) with a charter of demands and said their primary demand was to revoke the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

However, the home ministry said they hadn't received any such request for meeting so far, reports the international media.

The march to Amit Shah's residence is expected to start at 2pm.

Speaking to media persons in Shaheen Bagh, the protesters said they had decided to go to Amit Shah's residence because he recently announced that anyone who has a problem with CAA can meet him and discuss the problem.

"Amit Shah ji ne yeh kaha tha ki kisi ko is kanoon se pareshani hai toh mera paas aayen. Shaheen Bagh ko is kanoon se takleef hai. Is liye Shaheen Bagh ke sab log kal Amit Shah ji ke paas jayega (Amit Shah had said if anyone has any problem with the CAA, then he/she can meet him and discuss the problem. Shaheen Bagh has problem with the CAA and that's why tomorrow everyone in Shaheen Bagh will march to Amit Shah's residence)," one of the protesters said.

The protesters said they will not be sending any delegation to meet the home minister, but rather "every person will be part of the delegation".

Since December 15, Shaheen Bagh has become the epicentre of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the national capital.

The protesters, mostly women, have staged a continuous sit-in and have been demanding withdrawal of the CAA.

According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 owing to religious persecution will not be treated as illegal immigrants but will be given Indian citizenship. The law excludes Muslims.

Those opposing the law have been contending that it discriminates on the basis of religion and violates the Constitution. They have also alleged that the CAA along with the NRC is intended to target the Muslim community in India.

However, the central government has dismissed these allegations, maintaining that the law is intended to give citizenship to persecuted people from the three neighbouring countries and not to take away citizenship from anyone.

Meanwhile, the residents of girls' hostel of Presidency University in West Bengal's Kolkata chanted 'Azadi' and defied curfew saying that "they will not follow these rules which are set to control women".

Facebook page 'Pinjra Tod: Break the Hostel Locks' posted a video with text saying "women students from Presidency University girls hostel break the hostel curfew and make it clear that they will not follow these rules which are set to control women".

The incident is of Kolkata, West Bengal, where students also chanted 'Azadi' slogan.

"Women of Students of the Presidency University have fought a long drawn out movement in their hostel and have now come together and broken the locks of their hostel. The girl's hostel at Presidency is not even considered a proper part of this University, the hostel residents are repeatedly patronized with long taunts of 'decency that Presidency girls must abide by'.

"The administration has repeatedly tried to quelch every single movement that was built by the student community," the post read.

"When a demand is made against curfew and surveillance, and for desire, mobility and freedom -- the 'liberal' university is forced to confront how while it may open up certain possibilities for women, it insists on drawing strict boundaries on 'how much freedom' we will be 'allowed' to have, and 'who' will be the woman to be allowed to even enter the university space," the post by Pinjra Tod: Break the Hostel Locks read.

"Even now as we see the movement against CAA-NPR-NRC [Citizenship Amendment Act-National Register of Citizens-National Population Register] pouring onto the streets of this country we many a times find ourselves organising and participating in these protest but end up having to run back to our hostels as the clock strikes and the curfew timings begin. But as we saw at Jamia in the past month that in response to the fear-mongering following the incident of open firing sought to generate, women students of Jamia broke their hostel curfew to fearlessly assert their collective power and reclaim nights of struggle!

"We will keep rattling these cages of patriarchal control. We salute the struggle of the women of Presidency University Girls Hostel!

Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap visited Jamia Milia Islamia on February 14 in Delhi and took part in the protests.

He took the stage and expressed concerns about the political situation in the country. Anurag delivered a speech in Hindi where he reiterated that he does not support the NRC or the CAA, and that it is a "fight of patience" urging the students and other protesters gathered not to lose hope.

Anurag started off by saying that this is his first visit to Jamia, and that he feels alive as he steps into the premises, "Main Jamia main pehl baar aaya hoon. Kahin lag raha tha hum mar gaye hain, par yahan aa kar laga ki hum zinda hain."

Talking about the anti-CAA protests that started with Jamia and have now become a nationwide phenomenon, he said, "Mere liye yeh andolan Jamia se shuru hua. Yeh ladaai bahot lambi hai. Kal parson aur chunaav ke sath khatm nahi hogi."

Anurag, who has been vividly critical of Home Minister Amit Shah earlier, said that he doesn't trust what he says, because none of what he or his party says is coherent.