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Here is an eye-opening first hand account of the Shaheen Bagh protests from the pen of a participating media-person.

I have seen various media personnel visit and report about the protests at Shaheen Bagh. But as media students, we are often told that the more comfortable a person is with us, the more heartfelt the conversation will be. Thus, I made it a point to be without any media equipment and be a part of the protest. The result of this was eye-opening.

As I reached the locality, the first thing I could notice was the posters of the local MLA Amanatullah Khan all along Jasola puliya (bridge), besides which are huge dumps of garbage. The area suffers heavily from lack of sanitation facilities. The Delhi Police have placed barricades at multiple places around the demonstration. 

Dissent and fulmination form the basis of a vibrant democracy. In neoteric times, a demonstration which has become the flag bearer of these rights are the protesters of Shaheen Bagh. These protests have, for antipathetic and sympathetic reasons, been the hot topic in national politics as well as media for over two months. 

One can’t help but notice several roadside shops selling, in simple words, protest merchandise. These include shirt pins, mufflers, head wraps and t-shirts. The shopkeeper tells me that he, a class 7th student, along with his father can make around Rs. 200 to 300 each. On being asked about his schooling, he gives me a sad shrug. When I ask him about his meals, he tells me that just twenty metres ahead, a ‘Sardar Ji’ and his wife, both advocates have started langar and they feed everyone. “They both get pensions every month as they are lawyers. What a life they have. I wish I could also just do nothing and earn a lot.” The point of doubt in this statement was that advocates do not get any pension, so where was that money coming from? Even after multiple tries, I couldn’t get the answer to this question. The whole area is witnessing the rise of a gig economy which survives on the protests and if the protests stop, this economy will also crash. 

Further down the street is a vendor who is selling kufis. Talking to me, he reiterates his anger towards the establishment, “The government is doing nothing. Modi and Shah along with the RSS are onto us. Sometimes, I feeling like burning the whole parliament down. They are not doing work anyway.” Just beside him is an old lady or as she was being addressed ‘Dadi’. She tells me about her son working in the Delhi Metro as an engineer. She emphasises on the fact that no one can defy ‘Allah ka Farman’ or God’s order, “These people in the government are just humans and they can’t defeat Allah.” On knowing that I was a college student, she gives me her best wishes. 

The place was full of buzz as the arrival of Supreme Court lawyers was due in a short while. Even though the people there are protesting for the same cause, still everyone’s views are different. And without a leader, these views clash. While some wanted to talk to the lawyers, others were steadfast on the fact that the Apex Court itself is a ‘slave’ of the government. 

The stretch which is being used by the protestors for the sit-in is home to many big showrooms. And due to the protests, the business of these shops has crashed. The streets also had the rumour that these showroom owners are bribing the authorities to clear the road and get their businesses running. Annoyed by this rumour an attendee says, “These people won’t understand. If they won’t earn for some time, what bad can happen? But if the protests finish our future generations won’t be able to live, they’d become slaves.” 

As opposed to the common narrative, people here were genuinely scared of the trio – National Register of Citizens (NRC), National Population Register (NPR) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This fear was also a result of mongering as most of the people didn’t know everything about the bill. The hoarding put up in the area, which did try to explain the matter was itself fallacious. This explanation connected the Aryan theory of Friedrich Schlegei and William Jones to the present scenario – where misconception goes on and on based on such assumptions and tries to force a particular interpretation of the trio rather than letting people using their sense.

The protestors themselves know the fact that the moment they unblock the road, nobody will care for their protesting anymore. Apart from this, the organisers also do not allow men to sit in the front, only women are allowed to do so. On being asked why, a bystander tells me that they only have these two factors – the roadblock and the women, as leverage for the protest. If they lose either of them, the protests will fail. 

This has resulted in the popular opinion of the place to shift from ‘saving the constitution’ to ‘saving the kaum’ or community. The protest is being led by the women of Shaheen Bagh but several men around the area do not want to accept this empowering symbol. “Are we wearing bangles that these lawyers will ask the women for their views? These women are just being given too much importance”, said a man when the Supreme Court lawyer asked for the views of women on the matter. After a short while, the so-called ‘volunteers’ barged into the sitting area and blocked the view of many women. When confronted they started pushing and heckling the women. Since these boys were locals and knew almost everyone, not many confronted them and they continued to stand wherever they wanted. 

Just a few days back so-called activist, Gunjan Kapoor tried to film the protests without consent while wearing a burqa and sitting among the protestors. After a while, she was caught by the protesters who reportedly had a hard time ‘saving’ her from the locals before handing her over to Delhi Police. Mentioning this, a dadi trying to give proof of the peaceful nature of the protests to the lawyers, said, “We handed over Gunjan Kapoor to the police. Even though she was a Hindu, we did not harm her.” These lines forced me to rethink about the secular nature of the protests. 

The Shaheen Bagh protests are facing the grave dangers of conflicting views and unclear narratives. If the protestors do not understand and address this, the whole protests will be delegitimised, thus breaking the protestors. 

Image Credits: Aniket Singh Chauhan for DU Beat

Aniket Singh Chauhan

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After days of sustained violence in Jaffrabad, Seelampur, and other parts of North East Delhi, students of Delhi University (DU) hold a protest gathering at Arts Faculty to protest against the communal violence perpetrated by in these areas.

On 23rd February 2020, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad had called a Bharat Bandh in favour of reservations and against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Register of Citizen (NRC), and National Population Register (NPR) exercise, in response to which women of Seelampur and Jaffrabad organized a Chakka Jam on the same day. The violence perpetrated by rioters allegedly associated with Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on the same day, and with the violence sustaining till now, many are calling the riots a state sponsored pogrom of the muslim community and the protestors against CAA, with the police acting as silent bystanders while Delhi burns at the hands of the rioters.

On the morning of 25th February, Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) organised a protest gathering against the state sponsored violence in Northeast Delhi. Beginning at 1:30 p.m, the protest had various speakers from the affected areas, students, and performances from DU Theatre societies.

Shaurya, a student pursuing Masters in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, who had been volunteering at the protest sight for the last month, shared, “ the incidents that took place yesterday are commonly being blamed by the media on one identified gunman who has been arrested, who does belong to the Muslim community. Hence the media is blaming the community as a whole for inciting violence. This is not a riot between two communities, but a orchestrated plan by the RSS and the government acting in collusion with the police force aiding the rioters. The violence began two days ago when Kapil Mishra went to Maujpur- Babarpur with a team of RSS supporters and invited violence and started stone pelting.”

Talking about yesterday, when the levels of violence reached a new level with arson and shootings, he said, “Yesterday, RSS leaders in these areas clearly incited violence, with no police action being taken even after multiple calls being made to them, along with perpetrators being identified on video footage, the police did not act.  A group of concerned citizens from various groups met the Joint Commissioner of police who said that the investigation had not yet led to any conclusive results and refused to send any police to the area. Therefore, it is important to identify that this is  a state orchestrated attack against muslims who are protesting against the NRC-CAA-NPR.”

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Prabhanu Kumar Das

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Are we guilty of furthering new stereotypes whilst breaking others? This piece aims to scrutinise the methodology that we succumb to, during deconstructing stereotypes and consequently ending up reinforcing them in other forms.

When someone sets to dilute a certain form of stigma or stereotype, and alights to stimulate another form of it, their arguments and causes stand contradictory, and their motives, hypocritical. Although it is mainly unconscious, but aren’t we against the set narrative of the very notion that constitutes becoming an unconscious state of the mind, in the first place?

It is well-established that it’s really hard to counter narratives which are already set and accepted as norm, to begin with. The standardisation of beauty is one such example. Obsessed with a certain body type, people find themselves ensnared in insecurities to suit the needs of what the society deems to be perfect. However while supporting and accepting your own body type if someone finds for themselves to actually have a certain other body type which is not their ‘natural orientation’ but because they want to and not for the eyes of society, would it be justified to call them out for this? If owning up to who we truly are and what we really want to be is the goal, then why should one be recipient of flak for doing whatever and chosing however to live with their bodies? It’s rather complex to decipher why people undergo surgeries or put on makeup or edit their pictures. It might be out of low self esteem or it might not be. It’s not default and rigid to look a certain way, with or without filters, so how can we stand judge of a person’s intention about themselves?

Another instance, is the notion of colour and representation. Colours are major contributors towards highlighting a certain symbolic message, like that of the national flag or traffic lights. An age old battle is that of the blue versus pink debacle, which is in association to that concept of gender which reeks of heteronormativity. While fighting this stereotype we often degrade the colour pink and shift focus from disassociation of colors with gender to superiority of a preferred colour and inferiority of another. Pink is a colour and anyone including the female population has the liberty to like it and embrace it without having to fear the judgements which generally follow.

Amidst the ongoing Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) debates, people have called out the government, but the line of reasoning can be questionable at times. Saying that an ‘uneducated, illiterate, chaiwala’ can’t run the nation is not enough and highly classist and in disdain of the working class culture. Instead, problematic aspects of fascism, tyranny and communalism should form the basis for protesting and not the status of birth or class of work. Few forget that the Constitution of India gives the right to any individual irrespective of class, caste, gender or religion to contest in elections and serve in politics. It’s ignorant to make such remarks where one seems to be fighting the battle of inclusivity on the line of exclusion itself.

It would be ideal if we could exercise sensitivity while raising concerns. Whatever we say might offend someone but that shouldn’t stop us from speaking, it should also not, in turn, stop us from employing a critical approach in terms of what forms the basis of our arguments while fighting stereotypes. Let us foster an environment which allows us to live unapologetically, just as we are, while being respectful of others as they do the same.

Feature Image Credits: Pinterest 

Umaima Khanam

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Keeping in mind the situation in the country, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has advised colleges in the University of Delhi (DU) to educate people about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

In a notice dated 3rd February 2020, Kedar Burande, from the office of the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, has directed colleges to host weekly CAA awareness workshops in order to “change and influence the perception of students so that they don’t fall prey to misinformation campaigns and instead focus on nationalistic activities that in the long run will benefit the nation.”

A contact from the Vice Chancellor’s office, who requested to remain anonymous, said “We’d been expecting this notification for some time now. A framework has already been decided on and we have informed colleges of the same. Colleges that do not make this compulsory will be penalised, both the University administration and the Government will be looking at this very closely.”

“It is important to understand that students need to move on from these petty issues and focus on their academics. These student protests have caused huge inconvenience to everyone and should stop.” said a member from ABVP.

What remains to be seen, is the reaction of the student community towards this manifestation. Are the students going to actively participate in the workshops, or are they going to completely boycott them, remaining indifferent towards these policies of the administration.

Feature Image Credits: Avni Dhawan for DU Beat

 

Khush Vardhan Dembla 

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19th January has been a dark day in Indian history, marking the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 after increasing attacks by Islamist insurgents. This day has hence been remembered by the country as a mark of respect to the community but has also been extremely politicised, mostly by the far-Right in various ways.

One example of this can be what went down this Monday at Hindu College. Like many other parts of the country, the protests against the ruling government’s controversial Citizenship Amendment Act are in full swing especially among the student community in Delhi.

Similarly, groups of students had planned to hold their march in solidarity to these protests, and a reading of the Preamble. By last Saturday, word began to be circulated so that other students of Hindu College would also know about the march that would start from the College’s New Academic Block (also called the Science Block) and cover the rest of the college too.

Coincidentally, by Sunday (19th January), a poster was being circulated regarding a gathering in memory of the tragic mass displacement of Kashmiri pandits at the Science Block on the same day, just half an hour before the march.

These two gatherings clearly felt to be organised by different sets of students. Controversy arose with a recent video featuring Deepika Sharma, a student from the college. She was at the talk on the Kashmiri pundits’ exodus at the Science block. According to what she said in social media, she was heckled by the participants of the other march.

The video of this has been misinterpreted and shared by various platforms like OpIndia, Swarajya, and The Logical Indian and some celebrities like director Vivek Agnihotri. Such sources allege that ‘leftist goons heckled and shouted at her’. In the video, you can hear ‘Islamophobia’ being shouted in the background by protestors. But here’s the truth behind it from ground reports at Hindu itself.

First of all, calling the protestors ‘leftist goons’ is a very basic stereotype and a false claim. For the truth is that not a single Left-aligned poster or flag (with allegiance to any Leftist student body like AISA and SFI) was raised. The students in the march and Preamble-reading had gathered as students of the college, and not representing a particular political front.

Second, the slogans regarding the current government being Islamophobic were not meant to bring down the talk on Kashmiri pandits at all. These slogans were raised, solely for the students’ own dissent. These were students. Not goons.

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Some of the protestors do feel that they could have silenced the volume of their slogans a little as they passed through the side of the Science Block where the other talk was happening. But before this issue gets further politicised, what needs to be understood is that this protest was anti-CAA and by no means, anti-Kashmiri Pandits or anti-Hindu as other sources or Deepika Sharma might misinterpret it.

In fact, as you can see in the image featured above, the posters used by the protestors also tried to evoke empathy for the pandits. This protest didn’t seem to have been pro/anti towards any religion or community.

So, one needs to go through the contexts of both these gatherings again before jumping to conclusions. A close analysis will tell you that the claim of ‘one girl battling the heckling of Leftist goons’ is an exaggerated misinterpretation of an unintentional clash of events.

 

Image Credits: Himanshu Singh and Abhiram

 

Shaurya Singh Thapa

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Students of Ram Lal Anand College (RLAC) condemned guest speaker Balbir Punj regarding the statements made during his most recent address at the College’s seminar last Friday. 

The students of RLAC have released a statement condemning Balbir Punj and the stances he took as a guest speaker during a seminar held on 17th January 2020. Punj, an ex-MP from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was present at the seminar as a guest speaker. According to the released statement, when questioned regarding CAA and NRC, he could not address it.

In a seminar about CAA/NRC, minority institutions namely, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), St. Stephens, and Section 15 of the Constitution were attacked. At the beginning of the seminar, Punj allegedly refused to accept the existence of CAA and then proceeded to justify the act. According to the students, Punj reduced the student movement to ‘dog-whistle politics’, made communal arguments rather than exploring other aspects of the act, quoted Jinnah and made remarks about the minorities of other countries without addressing the problem of minorities in India. He did not address the active concerns of the students and addressed India as being made to originally be a religious and not a secular state. In the seminar, Punj also explained the notion of secularism, that he denies being a part of the Preamble, he goes on mentioning Article 29 and 30 of the Indian constitution which gives special and cultural rights to the minority communities which makes India a secular and pluralist country. Punj attacked the minority communities of Christians and Muslims, questioning the minority provisions being given to these communities under the guise of secularism.

“CAA/NRC/NPR cannot be understood in isolation. When Amit Shah himself explains the chronology of CAA and NRC, we should not forget this is an open attempt to reduce India’s minority to second class citizens. We should not forget that when our economy is facing the biggest slowdown in 10 years, high rates of unemployment, privatization of institutions, attack on universities to suppress dissent, increase in inflation etc CAA/NRC/NPR is a sword to divert attention from real issues.

While Mr Balbir Punj quoted Jinnah and mentioned Pakistan several times, we would like to quote Gandhi to you “I could not associate myself with the contention that India should drive out all its Muslim population to Pakistan as the Muslims of Pakistan were driving out all non-Muslims. Two wrongs cannot make one right”, 19 September 1947,” the statement read.

Balbir was also unable to answer any of the questions posed to him by the students present at the seminar. “Balbir Punj made all possible communal statements which are really dangerous for an educational institution. He attacked the idea of an inclusive India. He tried to mold data and history in all possible ways. The talk was a failure and the worst part was when I questioned him about citizenship of LGBTQ community as most of them are not in good terms with family so, obviously can’t produce documents and talked about situation of LGBTQ Community inside the campus, he smiled and responded in really shameful and insensitive way,” Deshdeep Dhankar, a student from RLAC who was present at the seminar, told DU Beat.

While, Gulshan Kumar, President, Students’ Union, said, “On our request sir delivered and lecture for around an hour and every single student of our college heard him very patiently. We also took feedbacks from the students. But it’s sad to say that some of the students who were not even present wanted to disturb the lecture. When the students were allowed to ask questions few students who follow the left ideology tried to disturb the atmosphere of the auditoriumand tried to manipulate the students.”
He further added, the Union’s comment on the same, “RLASU condemns such kind of action. The poster and banners were also pasted on the wall by the passout students of the college and this is not at all acceptable. The union is for the the Student’s of RLA and we are always committed to work for them. But the students union will not at all entertain the interest of outsiders.”

The ex-MP had come to the institution for a talk in favour of the CAA and NRC. The students of RLAC have condemned the talk, and called it “shameful, a failure, and a blatant spread of lies.”

 

Feature Image Credit: Shiksha

Shreya Juyal

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While the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) has corresponded to a trail of protests, the recent legislation needs to be addressed from three other P’s – the politics, patronage and privilege – that interplay along with the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The anti-CAA protests have brought the entire nation to a juncture where adjudication does not seem like a perplexing matter. Rather, the course of this movement and its directive hasbeen guided by an array of holds fromstudent, legal, and political experts tothe common masses which generally abstains from addressing such issuesagainst the authorities.

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Government had calculated, theCitizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) didundergo a smooth passage in both theHouses of the Parliament with support from its alliance parties and more, but a similar smooth shift was observed in their stance after the protests gathered momentum, and their politics found a reality check. While parties like the Indian National Congress (INC), theAll India Trinamool Congress (AITC),Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)] opposedthe Bill from the very beginning, soonafter, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) alsojoined the morcha (march) against the

Bill. Another kind of stance was observedby the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally, Shiv Sena, which did vote infavor of the Bill in the Lok Sabha, but walked out of their responsibility in the Upper House, and now stand opposedto the Act. Interesting observations werefound by Bihar’s governing party JanataDal (United) [JD (U)] as well, which also gave its vote in motion of the Bill, but senior Party leaders like Prashant Kishor and Pawan Verma criticised the decision, after which the party seemed skeptical,and it appears in bind as well. AssomGana Parishad (AGP) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) of Orissa also replicated thebehavior of their Maharashtra and Biharcounterparts. BJP’s oldest ally, Shiromani Akali Dal, has also criticised the CAA,and wants to include the only excluded minority under the Bill.

While the opposition in the face of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) continually stood against this Bill, other opposition parties like AITC and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) too seek the rollback of this Law. Kerala’s CPI (M) Government went on to pass a resolution, demanding scrapping of the CAA. 10 out of the 13 governing NDA allies withdrew their support from the BJP on the CAA-NRC plan; former BJP CabinetMinister, Yashwant Sinha, and Bengal’sBJP Vice President, Chandan Kumar Bose,are few of the leaders who have raisedquestions regarding the Act in their Party itself. This poses as a political conundrum in the history of Indian Politics. As the lens transmitted over the politicalmilieu, the CAA gave a tough slap to the

dogma of privilege that largely stoodunaffected from all kinds of proceedingsby the virtue of the social status theyexercised. Esteemed, influential, and prominent faces from all social factionsjoined the country-wide protests, and synchronised with the student unity that shook the order of chaos. Corporateprofessionals in global firms like Google, Amazon, and HCL also wrote to theGovernment to withdraw the Act, in aletter titled “TechAgainstFascism”.

With such circumstances prevailing, the privilege could not stay in denial and

was gradually compelled to take a step.

The students across national universitieshave expressed their resentment and received solidarity from worldwidefraternities in leading institutions and other organisations. From European nations, to the United States, Australiaand the Middle-East, the dissentspread, cutting off the patronage the Government sought to receive. After amonth since the Bill has found clearance,the dissociation from its existence seems to be challenged exponentially, with due action still on halt.

Feature Image Credits: The News Minute

Faizan Salik

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As I write this, I am not fine actually. I don’t know if you are aware of the situation in Assam ever since the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed in the Indian Parliament. Nothing seems to be like a normal vacation back home this time.

Right from the internet services shutdown to the peaceful gatherings; we have braved everything with courage and faith in the Indian Judiciary that justice will be delivered.

We have problems right from getting in touch and connecting with our family and friends as even a normal call wouldn’t just happen.

Sadness is a small word to capture the struggles we are going through every single day for our basic communication, essential necessities and the protection of our very own identity.

Although there is no curfew now and there have been comparatively peaceful protests, yet there is a wind of melancholy around as students in hostels of Universities have been under lockdown. Education in its truest sense is about the liberation of the mind and intellect but when our very institutions capture the intellect, where does one knock the door in search of reason and light?

As things try to return back to normal, waves of horror from the recent past are still fresh as the wounds bleed and heal simultaneously.

Everyone here had to struggle to get food and basic necessities during the curfew and the outstation students have not been able to go home because of safety issues. The Armed forces could be seen on the roads, visibly creating a vibe of horror in the minds of people once again. Our wounds had just started to heal when they got cut again in a matter of decades. The trauma is difficult to go through once again.

People are afraid to stay outside their homes until late as they fear that anything can happen at any time. Everything seems so unpredictable, it’s so heart-breaking.

Those days of internet shutdown didn’t feel like the democratic India that we had always been studying about, or been living in for so long. It was terrifying to the extent of disbelief that we had to go through the terrors normally experienced in anarchy. We felt like prisoners at the mercy of the government, hands tied and mouth forcefully shut; with no voice or medium to let our voice be heard.

My friends from the Cotton University in Guwahati were the first ones to start the series of protests initially against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in Guwahati. They have seen it all. Right from the gunfires to curfew to the lack of food and other necessities in hostels.

My friend Panna Priyam Das sums it up. “I had read about wars, riots and civil disobedience, but all of these were a distant past and a very unlikely future until this brutal present hit me and the people of my state right in the face. I guess from romanticizing war scenarios to actually trying to fall asleep to the constant sound of sirens and gunfire and nationalistic slogans, we all got the lesson for our lackadaisical attitudes towards Politics. Fascism blossomed in our ignorance, so much so, that we have become captives in our old land and have to compromise our own integrity.”

All the artists of Assam are coming together on a common platform and starting their own kind of peaceful protests by singing patriotic songs on stages in huge fields and expressing their concern about their cultural identity being endangered and being lost, amongst them is the famous Assamese singer Zubeen Garg.

Solidarity amongst all the linguistic and religious groups can be seen despite their cultural differences as almost people from all fields came out on the roads and took out rallies in large numbers.

There is no stopping to this revolution here in the North East, but what is sad is the fact mainland media has continuously side-lined the North-East and the issues that concern us.

As I write this, I do not want my identity to remain anonymous. Rather, I want to assert my identity in all its might and glory. We are proud Assamese, proud Indians. I have faith in my nation. I have faith in my culture and my rights.

This is the time when I need to assert my identity and my culture more than ever as this is a time of crisis for my identity and culture.

Understand and talk about our cause, our problem and our plight. As Indians, it is the childhood phrase of ‘Unity in Diversity’, crossed across our hearts that defines us at this very moment.

Stand for Us. Stand for India.

 

 Featured Image Credits- Hindustan Times

Pallabi Dutta

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Note- This is a guest feature, authored by a student from Delhi University .

With countless Instagram posts, raging WhatsApp messages and everyday discussions, the current political discourse has widely affected our relationships and this piece aims to answer the question that should you let your political opinion ruin your friendships? 

 

India is currently standing on the edge of revolution with more than 40 prominent universities including central universities like the University of Delhi, and globally acclaimed universities like Harvard University all protesting against the fascist regime of the elected government.

This protest has not just reached the streets but it has even engulfed our daily conversations. Students throughout the country have shown immense support to the right of peaceful protest and raised voices against police brutality witnessed by students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University. With section 144 imposed and means of communication and transport cut, students have refused to stay silent even after constant detentions of their comrades.

However, there still exist many who have been blinded by years of BJP propaganda and have to awaken the “Hindu” in them to dominate. The co-existence of both extremely strong perspectives can be found easily. Unfortunately, these people aren’t far-away citizens, they are found in our proximity and interact with us daily.

People you idolised might support actions that you condemn, your childhood friend can appreciate police brutality and even your college boyfriend can ask you “What is the problem with CAA? Why are you over-stressing?”

In times like these, where there are bleating hearts, it’s important to remember a few things.

 

  1. It’s okay to be emotional: While many might tell that it’s just a policy or it’s just an act, and you’re being over-emotional over something that doesn’t directly affect, you, by all means, are allowed to tell that person to leave. It’s good to be emotional, it’s good to keep yourself in shoes of those who are oppressed and not be blinded by your privilege. It’s okay to share a million stories a day. What’s not okay is to blame yourself for caring too much.

 

  1. Unfriend, Unfollow, Block: While you’re posting your opinion, many will share videos of buses burning and doctored images of protest posters to undermine the student revolution. Seeing even one story can fill you with disgust and a longing frustration. If you believe, the person has the intellect to comprehend the gravity of what you’re saying, you may engage in a healthy discussion that doesn’t affect your mental health. But, if not, you’re completely allowed to eradicate that person from your social media as well as life.

 

 

  1. Others lack of awareness isn’t your burden: If all your friend leads you in is unnecessary bickering; distance yourself. It’s not your job to debate on half-known facts and pseudo-nationalism. It’s recommended that you ask the other person to educate themselves with the current scenario and then have a discussion. You may send them sources of information to correct their perspective but not on the cost of your mental well-being.

 

  1. Judge people on their opinions: Often you hear that you should stay cordial even after conflicting political opinion. However, it must be assessed whether the opinion just technical or lacks basic empathy. Is the debating point whether you like the reach of the possibility or you fail to consider someone human? The political opinion just doesn’t determine a political standing of the person but also questions their fundamental privilege.

 

 

  1. Call them out!: In a family WhatsApp group, if you feel suffocated with your uncle’s marginalising joke, call them out. Instances like this pave way for the banality of evil. Examples like these, normalise cruelty and in many cases even internalise it as it’s said without an objection in a comfortable safe environment. Hence, you calling them out will make people question the normalisation of it.

 

While relationships constitute a large part of our life, nothing is above your mental well-being. It’s imperative to remember that even conflicting opinions can turn relationships toxic.

 

 

Feature Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons

 

Chhavi Bahmba 

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On the 19th December 2019, the entire country came to the streets to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and so did the citizens of the capital city of Delhi.

Initially, there were supposed to be two marches. The first protest from the Red Fort to the Shaheed Park, starting at 11 a.m, and the second protest from Mandi House to the Parliament Street, starting at 12 a.m. IA cautionary precursors, people shared numbers of legal help and emergency protocols for protests on social media to spread awareness. However, as people all over Delhi were enthusiastically choosing where to go, it turned out that the protest at the Red Fort was denied permission by the Police citing security reasons.

On the morning of the 19th, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation gradually started closing all the pivotal stations near the protests: Jamia Milia Islamia, Lal Quila, Jama Masjid, Vishwavidhayala, ITO. Soon, the Mandi House station was closed too. The Protesters heading to Mandi House received tips that police were arbitrarily detaining protesters before the protest had even started.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police had already started detaining people at the Lal Quila as well. Among those detained, Yogendra Yadav, a political leader, was also present.

Soon, the police spread out of Mandi House where they continued to detain protesters who had gathered nearby. Further news of Internet and Airtel and Vodafone network blockades, the shutting down of 21 metro stations, and 100 road blockades aggravated the sense that the government was actively trying to quell another peaceful protest before it even began.

It was found out that the detained were being taken to Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Bawana in Haryana, far away from the location of the protests.

Through word of mouth and WhatsApp, the protesters who were not detained and those who had gotten off at adjoining metro stations were told to assemble at Shaheed Park. However, even this was met by a police blockade and lathi charges,  including one very close to Barakhamba.

In a remarkable show of student solidarity and organization, against a Government actively trying to quell them by blocking their options, various student political parties and others got together in the spur of the moment. The protest which had already changed destinations thrice, finally led to Jantar Mantar.

Finally, after a shaky start, the protest at Jantar Mantar proceeded powerfully. The ground was heavily blockaded by the police, with a water cannon in place, in case things go awry. The land was echoing with the cries of ”Gali Gali me nara hai, Hindustan humaara hai” and “Modi-Shah ki Tanashahi, Nahi Chalegi-Nahi Chalegi”.

People were carrying creative posters saying “Student Unity Long Live”, “Orange is the New Black” and “Media more like Modia”.

There were people from all walks of life, from students to middle-aged men and women, united for a common cause. Among those present were parties like Krantikari Yuva Sangathan, Students’ Fderation of India, All India Students’ Association, and Communist Party of India. Eventually, the metro stations of Rajiv Chowk, Barakhamba Road, and Janpath, the three closest to the protest grounds were also closed. Despite that, people still managed to come in heavy numbers and join the protest.

Amongst heavy police presence in Jantar Mantar, the protests carried on for hours where the voices of our generation and those against the fascist government were heard loud and clear throughout Delhi and the Nation.

Feature Image Credits: Scroll

Satviki sanjay

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Prabhanu Kumar Das

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