Protests Against CAA-NRC Spread to Over 30 Districts in Bihar

Patna: In what can be termed as unprecedented in recent decades, peaceful protests against CAA-NRC-NPR have intensified and spread to over 30 districts of Bihar. Such a wave of protests, involving thousands of people, with mainly women in the forefront, has never been seen before in the State. What is unique is that people have been joining these Gandhian style protests on their own against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR).

According to reports reaching here, peaceful sit-in protests are underway in over 60 places in over 30 districts across the state. In Patna alone, such sit in protests are going on at over half a dozen places, including Sabzi Bagh, Lal Bagh, Alam Ganj, Haroon Nagar Sector 1, Digha, Khagaul, Ishopur and Samanpura.

"Protests are being held peacefully and are unique as these are being organised, joined and run by people on the lines of Gandhian non-violence" Chandrakanta, an active member of the No CAA-NRC group in Patna said.

Like elsewhere in the country, these protests are inspired by resistance at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, which has been following the Gandhian principle of peace and non-violence. The sit-in underway at Shanti Bagh in Gaya town has been going on for 29 days, Patna's Sabzi Bagh for over two weeks and Haroon Nagar in Phulwari Sharif for 15 days. The other sit-in protests have been going on for 10 days to one week and some started just last week.

It is common to see thousands of people thronging to these protest sites in the evening, and most of the crowd usually stays till late night. "Early in the day, hundreds can be found in these protests, but the number starts growing post-noon and by evening it swells into thousands, be it in Shanti Bagh, Sabzi Bagh, Lal Bagh or any other site from Kishanganj to Darbhanga, Samastipur to Bhagalpur,” Ghaleeb Kaleem, a social activist, said.

Bhagwan Bhaskar, a Left leaning activist in Gaya, said "Shaheen Bagh's model of Gandhian protest against CAA-NRC-NPR has spread from different district headquarters to semi-urban and rural pockets across Bihar. There are a few districts where such protests are likely to start in a day or two."

These protests have one thing in common – the protesters belong to different communities, carry placards with slogans against CAA-NRC-NPR, national flags in their hands, some wear tricolour badges on their heads and shoulders, and sit for hours, singing patriotic songs and reciting poems written by poets such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Kaifi Azmi and Rabindranath Tagore. The slogans widely heard are: Jai Bheem, Inquilab Zindabad and Hum Sab Ek Hain.

"We are fighting for a cause -- to save the Constitution. This is a people's struggle against the Central government. We will continue our fight till the government says ‘no’ to the unconstitutional CAA-NRC-NRP,” said Shazia Perween, a protestor at Sabzi Bagh in Patna.

Satish Kumar, Samvidhan Bachao Morcha’s co-convenor in Gaya, said sit-n in protests are underway at two places in Gaya, eight places in Patna, Bihar Sharif in Nalanda, Nawada, Aurangabad, Jehanabad, Begusarai , Kishanganj ,Araria, Purnea, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Araria, Katihar, Chapra, Samastipur, Bhagalpur, Arwal, Munger, Siwan, Gopalganj, East Champaran, West Champaran, Rohtas, Buxar, Bhojpur, Kaimur, Madhubani, Supaul and Saharsa districts.

CPI (ML) leader Dhirendra Jan said the protests were gaining strength and people were spontaneously participating."This protest is not only spreading ,it is intensifying more than expected by anyone,” he added.

On January 26, a l2,000-metre-long Tiranga Yatra with more than 20,000 people was taken out in Gaya town to protest against CAA-NRC-NPR. This was the first such protest in Bihar, just as Shanti Bagh is also a first in the state, said Mazhar Khan, a social worker in Gaya.

Apart from sit-ins, protests of different kinds have been taking place in several residential localities and near thoroughfares since the past two weeks.

Local organisers, with people's donations, have arranged medium and small-sized tents near the makeshift stage of these protests, where people, mainly women, have been spending hours under the open sky in this cold month of January.

Another distinguishing aspect of these protests is that no flags of political parties are visible. Pictures of top leaders of parties are also missing. But, photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar, Maulana Azad, Bhagat Singh and Subhash Chandra Bose can be spotted at many protest sites.

However, political party leaders have addressed people, expressing their solidarity with the protests. Among those who have addressed the people so far, are Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member Brinda Karat and Subhashini Ali, Swaraj party chief Yogendra Yadav, Bhim Army Chief Chandrasekhar Azad, Bihar Opposition and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, Congress MLA Shakeel Ahmad Khan and among other leaders and activists.

Among the protestors, the most sought after face is of Kanhaiya Kumar, who is popular for his aggressive verbal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and his famous “Azadi” songs.

Amidst all this, there are also reports of pro-CAA-NRC supporters, backed by the BJP, Bajrang Dal and other Hindutva outfits, trying to create trouble in Darbhanga and Motihari in East Champaran. But local organisers managed to control the situation.

Several civil society outfits, such as Loktantrik Jan Pahal, are now planning to start an awareness campaign on CAA-NRC-NPR to reach out to people through cycle yatras, padyatra and ghar ghar yatra soon (cycle, foot and door-door campaigns).

The Left parties successfully formed a state-wide human chain on January 25 and will now gearing up to stage a satyagraha at all district headquarters on January 30 against CAA-NRC-NPR. Besides, Tejashwi Yadav is to start a yatra in Seemanchal districts soon.