Bhatkal: Inspired by the protesters of Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, thousands of women thronged to Anjuman ground in Bhatkal, to protest the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The protest, called ‘India against CAA’, was organised by ‘We the People of India’, a group of various organisations. 

The protests began in afternoon with women raising slogans like "We all are one" and "Azadi".

Addressing the protesters, member of Bhaujan Kranti Morcha Maharastara, Pratibha Ubale, said, the law violated Article 14 of the Constitution of India, which provided for equality before the law. Asserting that religion should not be a criterion for citizenship, she called upon everyone to oppose the law.

Sumaiyya Hameedullah, addressing the protesters said, "The government is not taking any stand on it (CAA). They have stated that they won't take it back so it is dangerous for us as this law is against the Constitution. Nowhere it is written in the Constitution that a law can be made based on caste and religion. A few women had started this protest, and now we have also joined it. We are holding the protest after getting inspired by the women of Shaheen Bagh”, she added.

All India Muslim Personal Law board member Asifa Nisar, describing CAA and NRC as “draconian policies” being framed by the BJP government to divide the country on religious lines, wondered why the government was implementing the Act when people were facing bigger problems. She said that she will never show any documents to prove her citizenship, and took a promise from the audience never to disclose their documents to prove their citizenship. “We were born here and will die here. This is our land, we will never ever prove our citizenship to you. We will never show any documents to you”, she said.

The protesters, showing the placards and chanting ‘Aawaz Do, Hum Ek Hain’, gave a call for revolution and accused the Union government of dividing people on the basis of religion.  The new law seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. The law has been described as “discriminatory” as it specifically excludes Muslims. Protests against the law have raged across the country, bringing out thousands of women who have never been involved in any agitation in the past.

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