The ongoing protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in India have witnessed significant participation by women, especially by Muslims. In Shaheen Bagh, a small pocket of south Delhi, where people from different parts of the national capital have gathered to protest against the Citizenship Act, hundreds of Muslim women have marked their presence despite the freezing cold.
Wearing blankets and sipping cups of tea, raising azaadi chants and showings placards, these women have staged peaceful protests in Shaheen Bagh, so far. Now, a group of Muslim women are determined to 'recreate' Shaheen Bagh in Kochi, the financial hub of Kerala.
On Tuesday, a group of Muslim women marched to the Azaadi Square in Edapally, a suburb of Kochi, to begin protests against the Citizenship Act. The women sported headbands saying ‘NO CAA, NO NRC’ and held placards. The Azaadi Square protest is expected to continue for two more days and is being organised by the Kerala wing of the Girls Islamic Organisation of India.
The protest organisers claimed their stir would be peaceful and would consist of songs, dramas and Azaadi chants. The protest is being modelled after the Shaheen Bagh stir to express solidarity with the ongoing demonstration happening in Delhi. “This protest is in solidarity with the women, from the very old lady to the newborn infants, who have collectively occupied Shaheen Bagh to oppose the fascist ideology of the Central government,” an organiser declared.
“The participation of Muslim women in the anti-CAA protests all over India is a continuation of the early women struggles led by famous Muslim personalities like Abadi Bano Begum, a prominent voice in the independence movement, and the women soldiers of the great revolutionary Varian Kunnath Kunjahameed Haji, leader of the Malabar Rebellion [1921],” says Afeeda Ahmed, state president of the GIO. “We are following the path of great Muslim women leaders and personalities who have created history with their struggles. The wider Muslim women participation is the continuation of the struggles of those women in Indian history,” emphasised Afeeda.
“We are not creating any revolution here as we are only following the revolution that has sprouted across India,” Afeeda added.
