Anti-CAA protest continues in Deoband despite rain and COVID-19 scare

Administration putting pressure on male members of protesters to weaken agitation, they say

Heavy rains on Wednesday night didn’t dampen the spirit of women protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens in Deoband.

The protest has been on at the Idgah ground of the town in Saharanpur district for the last 46 days. “This is the sixth time when we have faced the downpour in the last 46 days. It has become part of the routine now. Around 2,000 to 3,000 women were on the ground last night. We have female volunteers and male supporters who help us out. Yesterday, somebody brought the tractor motor to take out the water,” said Iram Usmani, one of the faces of the protest.

Amna Roshi, Murtahida Khawatin Committee (Women’s Unity Committee) president, said besides the ill-effects of the CAA she was also making the protesters aware of the dangers of COVID 19. “Though every Muslim is expected to perform ablution five times a day we are insisting on women to be extra careful with children,” she said.

Ms. Roshi said the administration was applying pressure on the male members of the protesters to weaken the agitation. “My brother, who is a journalist with a reputed Hindi daily, has been booked along with two other journalists. The administration very well knows that we don’t allow any male members to take the stage at the protest site. Hum apni marzi se aaye hain aur apni marzi se jayenge. [We have come out of our own accord and will go back on our will],” she said.

A post-graduate, Ms. Roshi said those who were leading the protest were educated women and see spreading information about the ill-effects of the CAA and the NRC as their responsibility. “Otherwise, future generations will question us. Many of those sitting here don’t even have ration cards,” she said.

On the protests against the CAA being held responsible for Delhi riots by the leaders of the BJP, Ms. Roshi said their protest was through Gandhian means. “Our Facebook page is called Satyagraha and we have put a charkha at the protest site.”

Irked by a section of the media, she said every fatwa from Deoband makes national news but a 46-day protest has yet to make national news.

Ms. Usmani appealed to the Prime Minister to look at the plight of his sisters. “There has been no clear response from the government on CAA-NRC. The RSS says it sees 130 crore Indians as Hindu society. Our forefathers chose this country because it believed in unity in diversity.”

She alleged meat shops are being shut, e-rickshaws are being challaned and people are being asked to show maps of their houses to put pressure on protesters. “The administration is coming up with newer ways to disrupt the project. They would say it is part of the process but we have never seen the process being followed so keenly before,” said Ms. Usmani.

So far 40 people have been booked for violation of prohibitory orders under various Sections including 270, 280 and 290 of IPC and Section 83 of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015.

Ms. Roshi denied using children for protest deliberately. “These are children of poor women who go with them when going to earn a living as well. One or two could have picked a placard while playing. After all, it is about their future,” she said.

Senior SP Dinesh Kumar P said the journalists had been booked for violation of Section 144. “They are spreading rumours and inciting women under the cover of their profession. We are not targeting any community. During Holi, licences were checked by the Nagar Nigam and those who could not show them were challaned. Every action should not be linked with the ongoing protest.”

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