Protesters gather in London against India’s Citizenship Amendment Act

The protest onm Wednesday (December 18) is an addition in the ripple effect of protests held across the world by South Asians in response to the contentious bill passed by the Indian government that is being criticised by many for its discriminatory nature.

The controversial Citizenship Amendment Act offers citizenship to the persecuted minorities (Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists, and Christians) of the three Muslim-dominated neighbouring countries of India – Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, while excluding the Muslims.    

Rishiraj Bhagawati, 24, a Masters student at University of Sussex, said: “I think such clearly-discriminatory legislation has no place in a democracy. The CAA coupled with the upcoming NRC, if one goes by the Home Minister's own words, it will be the greatest insult to the Constitution that all lawmakers have sworn to protect.”

The picketers in London held placards to show their solidarity with the students of Jamia Millia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim 

University who were assaulted by the police in a campus crackdown when the students chose the university campus as a space for their expression of fear for the Muslim community. One of the placards read, “Stop police brutality.” 

Bhagwati said, “A state must respect peaceful assembly and protests. What it did in Assam, Jamia, AMU and later across the country reeks of fascist ways of state response. That has no place in a democracy."

A joint statement was issued by the students, scholars and alumni of various British universities, extending their support and solidarity.

Organised by the South Asia Solidarity Group and the SOAS Indian Society, the protestors believed that the fundamentals laid out by the constitution were at stake. Students read out the preamble of the Indian constitution and sung the national anthem. The protest also witnessed some non-Indian protestors, supporting their friends with a loud slogan: “Halla Bol.” 

Their message to the Indian government was simple - to adhere to the ethos and fundamental basis of secularism that the republic was founded upon. “The defining of secularism for the Indian context was unique to that of its previous European understanding that was an achievement in of itself. This process of alteration damages the fabric of Indian society and is thus irreversible, even if policy can be changed to be more inclusive in the future. The agenda of the government shouldn’t be mono-ethnic, but cater to the larger Indian populace,” said Akhilesh Sandep, a 23-year-old Development Studies student at IDS (Sussex.

Among the echoes of slogans that condemned the fascist approach of the government, many protestors questioned the Indian prime minister’s fear of citizens voicing their opinion. To contain the protests and ensure civic decorum, the Indian government has called for internet shutdown and prohibited assembly of four or more people in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka. 

Sandep added: “The internet shutdown is only a manifestation of the need to suppress dissent. It’s the first step towards information control which is dangerous. It only permits further control of the populace, this is not what a democracy is about.

“The right to information, access and passing it on must be respected. Section 144’s intention was to inhibit violence, not be used as a government tool to control dissent. It’s a blatant misuse of power. It is abhorrent that this is the situation in India, something I had hoped to never see in my lifetime. History is finding itself being repeated and that terrifies me.”

Since the announcement of the CAA and NRC in India, protests have erupted in US, UK, and Nepal against the amendment that even the UN has shown concern over.