India / Protest outside Jamia University against Citizenship Amendment Act

NEW DELHI: Songs of resistance, witty placards, the national flag and community meals — the half-kilometre stretch from Holy Family Hospital to the mausoleum of Dr Zakir Hussain at Jamia Millia Islamia was an open air community protest zone on Friday. After Jumma prayers, several thousand people from the vicinity joined the protesting university students, leading police to stop traffic on the main road there.

In the afternoon, Suleman Nadwi, imam of the Central Jamia Millia Masjid, appealed to the gathering during Friday prayers to protest in a peaceful manner and to prevent bad elements from infiltrating the ranks. “Muslims and non-Muslims, we are together against these laws and the entire world is with us,” he said. “Keep in mind not to damage public property or shout religious slogans.”

Immediately after, residents of Jamia Nagar and Batla House started arriving in batches at the main protest site of Jamia’s Gate No. 7. Several participants contributed by distributing biryani, tea and sweets. Yasir Hussain, an alumni of the university, said eight of them had been distributing free food since the protests began some days ago. “It is now a saanjha movement. This is my way for my group to partner the protestors,” he smiled.

A signature campaign against the Citizenship Amendment Act called upon protesters to inscribe the six giant banners at the site. Mohammad Dawood Khan said the fight would now be fought through peaceful means. “This is our country as much as it is of others,” he wrote in Urdu on a banner.

At 2:30pm, crowd, which had already swelled to more than a thousand, broke into songs like ‘Janta mange nyay’, ‘Tu zinda hai to zindagi ki jeet par yakeen kar’, interspersed with raucous shouts of ‘Inquilab aaya’. Witty posters challenged the central government. Anamika, an artist who came from Malviya Nagar, said, “We have lived together on this land and, inshallah, we will continue living together. Peace and love will win, not destruction and violence.”

Around 3.30pm, restless youngsters started to move towards the hospital end of the road, alarming the organisers about a repeat of Sunday’s scenes. Human chains were promptly formed to stop them. Shakeel Ahmed, who was seen coaxing some young protesters to retreat, told one of them, “I am one of you. Don’t do anything rash. The entire movement will be derailed. Imagine what will happen to women and children.”

Police in riot gear paced the outer boundary of Holy Family Hospital, but the protest concluded peacefully in the evening. The organisers released a statement extending solidarity to the Bhim Army’s protest at old Delhi’s Jama Masjid. “We are also grateful to the thousands of citizens — unnamed and unidentified — who took to the streets to show their identity as citizens of this country preceded any other identity,” the statement added.