Mumbai: Around 100 organizations from across the country have held a national coordination committee to discuss the future course of action regarding protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that was held in the Mumbai on Monday.
First four words of the Indian Constitution
The committee has decided to fight the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) under one banner – “We the People of India”.
The committee urged all protestors to hold protests under the same banner-which is also the first four words of the Indian Constitution. So far, at least six protests in January have been planned on a national level under this banner.
Members of the meeting
Swaraj India National President Yogendra Yadav, Rashtriya Seva Dal President Ganesh Devi, student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, ‘United Against Hate’ member Umar Khalid and human rights activists Harsh Mander and Medha Patkar were among those present in the meeting.
Protest dates
Yadav said the Centre and state governments are repressing the voice of citizens, adding that several national calls for protests will be made in the coming month. Savitribai Phule Divas (January 3), Bharat Bandh (January 8), Youth Day (January 12), the death anniversary of Rohith Vemula/social justice day (January 17), a morcha with the tricolor (January 26) and Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary (January 30) are some dates identified for the program, Yadav said.
All associations under the banner have declared a clear boycott of CAA, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR). Efforts will be made to appeal to state governments to declare intent regarding the implementation of NRC in a standard formalized manner, organizers said.
“I have been to Meerut and Muzaffarnagar,” Patkar said. “The state is lying when it says it has not committed any violence. In this 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi’s anniversary, the government has been trampling on Gandhiji’s values.”