Republic Day wrath

A day meant to celebrate the birth of the Constitution of India was marked by protests against the regime

A day meant to celebrate the birth of the Constitution of India was marked by protests against a regime that has been working overtime to rewrite it in its own fascist image. Big and small cities in India — besides many others elsewhere in the world — saw thousands of people turn out to protest on Sunday against the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). At the same time, some protests also echoed with slogans relating to the Kashmir lockdown, which has been in effect for almost six months. It was hardly the image of India that the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted the world to see. Instead of celebrating India’s formal transition from a dominion to an independent republic on January 26, 1950, citizens were slamming the government’s efforts to turn the country into a Hindu nation.

Over 250 public meetings and protests were reported in the state of Kerala alone, with one of them featuring a human chain which claimed to have over 100,000 participants. “It was not a mere human chain, but a human wall against the violation of the principles of the Constitution,” said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. In Kolkata, organisers claimed to have formed a human chain over 11 kilometres long. Massive protests were also seen in Mumbai and Lucknow, with many of the protests being led by women. Lucknow, incidentally, is the capital of Uttar Pradesh, where most of the 25 protest-related deaths have taken place.

State security forces under the BJP-led state government have killed at least 19 people and injured hundreds in their failed attempt to silence protesters. The largest protests in New Delhi were in the Shaheen Bagh area, where major roadways have been blocked since December. Meanwhile, Assam, which was the testing ground for many of the BJP’s recent discriminatory policy measures, saw multiple blasts take place, although no casualties were reported.

Amid all this, the government hosted the annual Republic Day parade in New Delhi. It was ironic that the event tried to highlight cultural diversity since the erasing of that cultural history has been front and centre for the BJP from the day the party was formed.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2020.

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