The Shaheen Bagh protests have officially completed 50 days. The protest which started on the 15th of December, 2019, is still going strong, despite an attack by a gunman and incessant mudslinging by the powers that be.
Mind you, at 52 days, this is being called the longest 24*7 protest led by women in history. These women coming from the neighbourhood are mostly Muslim women, which make them a minority amongst a minority and that there is a testament to their resolve against the CAA/NRC/NPR.
Keep this mind, this is a protest against the most authoritarian and majoritarian regime India has seen since independence.
Supporters of the CAA have not only participated in the glorified Indian political tradition of mudslinging across the aisle, without any scope of discussion or negotiation, but attacks have been carried out in universities in the Capital, like JNU and Jamia.
In fact, a few days ago, Union Minister Anurag Thakur gleefully followed in the footsteps of former AAP and currently BJP leader Kapil Mishra and gave slogans asking people to put bullets in traitors.
Following this, lone gunmen attacked the protests in Jamia and then in Shaheen Bagh. But the women of Shaheen Bagh are stronger than one can presume.
Oh, and BTW, this isn’t just about Muslims. So unlike what most CAA supporters and that includes media houses as well, would like you to believe, this isn’t a protest by Muslim women exclusively. Shaheen Bagh has become ground zero for the underprivileged, ones who would be most affected by the CAA.
Women of many colour, caste, creed, religion have come together, uniting in their fight against prejudice and injustice.
These people are not just fighting for their rights, they are fighting for their survival, the survival of their families, their kids and their future.
If the government doesn’t roll back the CAA/NRC, these are the people, who will lose their homes, their lands, their citizenship and their country.
So they must fight as people across the nation fight alongside them. Because a journalist one said, ‘Some fights aren’t fought to be won, some are just fought so that people know somebody was there on the battlefield’.