Modasa in Gujarat came alive with the voices of more than 15,000 women calling for ‘azaadi’ from the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)-National Population Register (NPR)-National Register of Citizens (NRC). The demonstration on Tuesday was the fourth such protest in the town and was organized by the Aravalli Muslim Coordination Committee (AMCC).
A small city with a big heart.
Never thought this can happen.
A protest by women’s of Modasa.
People of Modasa setting up an example of peaceful protest against CAA.??
Hats of to community…?
????????????????????????#ModasAgaintsCAA#CAA_NRCProtests pic.twitter.com/lUoeDfQbah— Wasim Kumar (@Wasim__Kumar) February 4, 2020
*We the people of India Reject CAA_NPR_NRC*#IndiaAgainstCAA_NPR_NRC #modasa #PMO pic.twitter.com/9pYTkm1PEp
— MohammedJuned Chagan (@MohammedjunedC) February 4, 2020
Women of #modasa against #CAA_NRC_NPR pic.twitter.com/n9RSsxTxbC
— Naeem Irshad Baig Mirza (@NaeemBaigMirza1) February 4, 2020
Sitting under a bright yellow canopy, reminiscent of the women-led Shaheen Bagh protests, the agitating women waving the tricolour and many draped in tricolour themed hijabs had assembled at Ghoshiya groud in Modasa shouting against CAA, the “black Act” and the “draconian exercises” of the NPR and NRC, reported The Indian Express.
This was the first time ever that the locals had witnessed such a large turnout in Modasa.
35-year-old Saleha Malik, a native of Modasa told the IE, “I am a computer engineer and a homemaker and still, I have found time to come to the protest site as I am agonised by this black Act. It is a clear violation of the fundamental values of our democracy and our Constitution. We are not just protesting but also spreading awareness among our sisters in small towns.”
Qazi Mosmina, a homemaker echoed the “Hum Kaagaz Nahi Dikhayenge” sentiment saying, “If any officer or government clerk comes to our homes to collect documents, then we must welcome them with courtesy and offer them food and drinks, and then politely join our hands and refuse to show them any papers. This is the message that I want to propagate.”
“Our youth had turned disoriented from sociopolitical thinking but thanks to the present regime, a spark has ignited in them and they have turned aware and conscious,” said Dr Iftikhar Malik, a medical practitioner based in Modasa.
Shahin, a theatre activist associated with the National Peace Group who works in Ahmedabad too rushed to support the women of Modasa in their protest.
Suleiman Khan, the Convenor of the AMCC said that the police had denied them permission for holding a public rally. “Therefore, we decided to hold the agitation in a private property so that we don’t have to seek permission. We will keep on agitating against the draconian Act until it’s taken back,” he said.
It is no surprise that the toxic cocktail of the CAA-NPR-NRC is set to severely affect the women, especially the ones from poorer backgrounds who may be excluded from the list due to lack of documents, just like the women in Assam were left behind during the NRC there.
With no awareness of the NRC process and emotional and financial dependency on the patriarch, coupled with practices like early marriage and the dwindling girl-child education robs them of their valid identity proofs. Most of the women in rural areas or conservative households do not register for voter identity cards.
Without educational degrees and land documents, women don’t possess independent identity documents which makes them particularly vulnerable to the NRC process.
Related:
Revolution through art at Mumbai Bagh and Mumbra Bagh protests
The Many Meanings of Shaheen Bagh
Women gather at Agripada in thousands; show way against CAA-NPR-NRC