IF the motive behind the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was to divide society on the basis of religion, what it managed to achieve was to unite people of different communities and social backgrounds in protest and outrage. In West Bengal, for days at a stretch, students, non-political organizations and social rights groups rallied in protest, stealing the thunder from political parties.
“What is outrageous is the inherent hypocrisy in this law. It goes against the spirit of the Constitution. It is not really about helping people but triggering a divisive and discriminatory sentiment that theBJP[Bharatiya Janata Party] hopes to capitalise on politically. I don’t want to be someone who just stood by and let it happen, and I realised when I hit the streets that I was not alone,” said Andy Ghosh, an advertising and marketing professional who took part in the protest rallies. Although Kolkata was the epicentre of the protests, similar protests took place across the State.
The State erupted in violence on December 13, and for several days parts of Bengal burned as public and private property was vandalised, railway stations were demolished and trains set on fire. The agitators set up road blockades and stopped trains and buses. For several days rail connectivity to north Bengal was cut off. As the situation spiralled out of control, the State government suspended Internet activities in several regions, including the districts of Murshidabad, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur and parts of North and South 24 Parganas.
There were also mischief-mongers wanting to fish in troubled waters. The police nabbed six non-Muslim youths, dressed in lungis and skullcaps, for pelting stones at trains, clearly to malign a particular community. The boys were seen changing their clothes at a railway station and throwing stones at passing trains.
This story is from the January 17, 2020 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the January 17, 2020 edition of FRONTLINE.
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