Protests against CAA/NRC to save the idea of India

Hyderabad: "The protests against CAA and NRC have now become a movement for the Idea of India," said Yogendra Yadav and Radhika Vemula, mother of Rohit Vemula, observing Rohit Vemula's 4th death anniversary as "Social Justice Day."

Yogendra Yadav and Radhika Vemula gave a call in Hyderabad to citizens of all religions and communities to come onto the streets to protect social justice and the Indian Constitution, and protest against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Registry of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR).

The event was organised under the nationwide banner "We the People" by Citizens Against NRC-CAA-NPR, a platform of civil society activists and youth in Telangana.

The event which was organized at Lamakaan in Banjara Hills started with Prof Asma Rasheed of EFLU and Muslim Women's Forum and P Shankar of Dalit Bahujan Front speaking about the CAA-NRC-NPR process going against the basic principles of justice and equality.

Yogendra Yadav explained that "We the People" is a common banner under which organisations and people from across the country are organizing events on CAA-NRC-NPR. This includes a wide cross-section of activists across the country including Dr.Ganesh Devy, Medha Patkar, Teesta Setalvad, Umar Khalid, Wajahat Habibullah, Kanhaiya Kumar, Kavitha Krishnan, etc. He said, "Today, the protests against CAA-NRC-NPR have grown beyond a protest. They have become a movement across the nation. This is not just a movement against something. It has become a movement for the Idea of India. The idea of India that our freedom movement fought for is an India where people of all religions will be equal citizens, whether they are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Dalit, Adivasi or any community. Today, CAA-NRC-NPR is challenging that very idea. It is trying to create a Hindu Israel, a Hindu Pakistan."

Prof Asma Rasheed said, "The Citizenship Amendment Act is clearly unconstitutional, and the whole NRC-NPR process is against social justice." P Shankar said, "I don't have an official birth certificate. The date of birth in my records was not written by my parents but by my teacher in the school records. Does it mean that I am not a citizen? Who are Amit Shah and Modi to dictate whether I am a citizen or not? This matter should be of concern not only to Muslims but all of us, especially all Dalits and marginalised communities."

Radhika Vemula said, "We lost our son because we did not know how to save him at that time. Now, we have decided that we will not lose our nation also. We will fight to save our nation. We will oppose the CAA-NRC-NPR as mothers who have lost our children to injustice and oppression. Rohit had said 4 years ago that a citizen was going to be reduced to a vote and a number. Today, things have become even worse – they are trying to exclude people even from getting a vote and a number." She announced that along with the mother of Dr Payal Tadvi who was pushed to suicide in Mumbai due to discrimination, and the mother of Najeeb who went missing from JNU, she was planning a yatra under the banner "Mothers for the Nation" to defend the basic principles of Ambedkar's Constitution.