About 350 people participated in a rally against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens and National Population Register near Andheri station on Friday. The protest was organised by the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
The protesters held placards and shouted slogans condemning Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for introducing the new citizenship law. They also lauded the courage of the students of Jamia Milia Islamia, who protested even in the face of police brutality in Delhi.
The protesters said their fight was not just to protect the interests of Muslims, but all minority communities. They lashed out at the government for engaging in divisive policies at a time when the country is facing pressing issues such as unemployment, lack of women’s safety and price rise.
Arish Kamal, one of the protesters, said, “This is just like demonetisation. This time, instead of apparently eradicating black money, the government will snatch your identity. These laws are not just against the Constitution but every Indian.”
One protester also read out lyricist Varun Grover’s viral poem, Hum Kaagaz Nahi Dikhayenge . Hargun Singh, a research scholar at Mumbai University, said, “This tyrant government is attacking India’s brotherhood. They did not choose us, we chose them. They cannot tell us what to do.” The protesters said such rallies will cause the law to be revoked and lead to the downfall of the Central government, which is driven by the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
“You asked us to make you chowkidars, and we did that. Now you are asking the house owners to prove their ownership?” Salim Khan, a Congress block president, said. Ashok Jadhav, Congress MLA from Andheri (West), said, “If they weren’t in the ruling regime, both Modi and Shah would have been in jail by now.”
