New Citizenship Law Protest: In Malegaon, rally against ‘kaala kanoon’

On Thursday, thousands of power loom workers, as well as students attended the rally, condemning the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as a “kaala kanoon” and demanding that it be repealed.

The protest march started from Malegaon Fort around 10 am and ended at Shahidon ki Yaadgaar at 1.30 pm, a distance of about three km. “Our ancestors were part of the freedom struggle against the British. Now, we are asked to prove our allegiance to the country. The Act should be repealed,” said Mohammed Yusuf Iliyas, of the Taluka Malegaon Powerloom Sangharsh Committee, in his address to the rally.

Maulana Umrain Mahfooz Rahmani, convener, Dastoor Bachao Committee and secretary of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, talking to a large crowd gathered in Malegaon said, “December 19 is a historic day. It is a day the British hanged two freedom fighters Ashfaqullah Khan and Ram Prasad Bismil. We are their descendants. If the need arises, we are willing to sacrifice our lives to save the country.”

“This Bharat [India] is far dearer to us than our children,” Rahmani said. “We are not children of those who sold the country’s secrets. We are not children of those who grab power by harming the country. We are not children of those who create rift between Hindus and Muslims for saving their chair and power. We are children of those who had said that if need arises, even our five-year-old children will shed the last drop of blood to save the country,” he said.

He advised PM Narendra Modi, a “globetrotter”, to visit the museum of Egypt in which the mummy of Ramses II, the third Pharaoh, is preserved to learn that “power doesn’t last forever”. “The corpse of Pharaoh narrates the tale of pride, ego and stubbornness,” he said.

Mufti Mohammed Ismail, legislator from Malegaon and leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen, said the BJP was doing “what even Muslim rulers didn’t attempt for 700 years”.

“The new law has been brought on the basis of religion and is a clear violation of Article 14 and Article 15 of Indian Constitution,” Ismail said.

Dr Saeed Farani, surgeon, who also spoke at the rally, said, “The Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed NRC are akin to an attack on country’s spine”.

Prakash Ambedkar, whose VBA took part in the protest, said: “The CAA is just an eyewash. What has raised the apprehensions is NRC. There is a lot of fear amongst the people about the NRC. And therefore we saw tremendous response across the country with people taking to streets to voice their protest.” The VBA is getting all the like-minded organisations to unite in this battle against the suppressive act, he added.

Arti Singh, Superintendent of Police, Nashik (rural) said, “Three days back we received a memorandum from the organisers about the protest march. We had carried out a ‘route march’ where policemen along with a certain number of locals took the same route to see if there were any problems along the route that needed to be addressed. We knew there was going to be a big crowd and hence wanted to ensure that there were no irritants along the way.”