Agitations continue in the city on New Year’s Day; Swara Bhaskar attends protest at Jamia

Actor lauds students’ efforts in continuing protests; she also visits protest site at Shaheen Bagh

NEW DELHI, 01/01/2020: Film actress Swara Bhaskar addressing the gathering during Jamia's students and residential in solidarity with Jamia Millia Islamia Unversity's students during a protest against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR), out side the gate no7 of Jamia Millia Islamia Unversity in New Delhi on Wednesday. January 01, 2020. Photo By Shiv Kumar Pushpakar / The Hindu

Amid New Year celebrations, protests against the amended citizenship law continued in various parts of Delhi, including Shaheen Bagh and Jamia university, where agitators sang legendary poet Faiz Ahamed Faiz’s ‘Hum Dekhenge’.

At Jamia Millia Islamia, which has become the epicentre of the protests in Delhi, scores of students and civil society members carrying the Tricolour and banners squatted on one carriageway of the road outside the university.

Bollywood actor Swara Bhaskar and her co-star from Raanjhanaa Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub attended a public meeting on the new legislation outside the university and lauded protesters’ efforts in continuing the agitation.

“We have woken up late but now we have woken up. You [students] have woken up the entire country. We are here to thank you,” Ms. Bhaskar said and termed the amended Citizenship Act a “targeted” law.

While Mr. Ayyub raised slogans ‘Hum EK Hain’ and ‘Inquilab Zindabad’, Ms. Bhaskar recited lyricist Varun Grover’s poem against the citizenship law which has the punchline ‘Hum kaagaz nahi dikhayenge (We won’t show documents).’

Following the public meeting, a candlelight march was organised by the alumni association of the university outside gate number 7, which has become a protest site after the December 15 violence.

The students of Jamia welcomed the New Year with cries of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ and ‘Azaadi’.

The sit-in protest by women at Shaheen Bagh continued after a night where they welcomed the New Year by singing the national anthem and raising the slogan ‘Azaadi’.

Ms. Bhaskar visited the protest site after addressing the gathering at Jamia Millia Islamia.

PinjraTod, a women’s collective of students and alumni of colleges across Delhi, alleged that a march being carried out by women in Jaffrabad was halted by the police and RAF personnel, who even demanded their address proof.

A senior police officer said the women were not halted or threatened but were told that prohibitory orders, banning the assembly of four or more persons, were in place following which they left the area.