Summary:
Lucknow: What began as violent protests against the BJP government’s move to amend the citizenship law – Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) – and its proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the last weeks of 2019 soon metamorphosed into non-violent sit-ins across Uttar Pradesh that were led by women, mostly from the Muslim community.
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Lucknow: What began as violent protests against the BJP government’s move to amend the citizenship law – Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) – and its proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the last weeks of 2019 soon metamorphosed into non-violent sit-ins across Uttar Pradesh that were led by women, mostly from the Muslim community.
Following the footsteps of hundreds of women in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, several sit-ins and demonstrations led by women began sprouting in different parts of Uttar Pradesh in January, beginning with Mansoor Ali Park in Prayagraj on January 12.
Several hundred women squatted at Lucknow’s iconic Ghanta Ghar to protest against the CAA and NRC.
In the violence that preceded the peaceful protests, at least 20 people were killed.
Following the violence, the baton for protests was taken over by the women across the state – in Kanpur, Saharanpur, Azamgarh, Moradabad, Varanasi, and Sambhal.
“We are emulating the protest led by women in Shaheen Bagh.
If women in Delhi can sit outside in this biting cold, then why can’t we.
We will sit here for 24 hours and continue our protest in the coming days.