Anatomy of a Protest

When we look back at our history, with India at the cusp of two decades, we will recall this political moment as one marked by a deep schism in our polity in response to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Lakhs of Indians have come out onto the streets to register their protest against the relegation of Muslims and indigenous tribes to second-class citizens. These (largely peaceful) protests have been met with violent repression and detainment by the police across Indian cities. In light of these political developments and the brutal violence of the past month alone, there are important questions to be answered: who is this country for, who is allowed to protest, and what is the nature of dissent at this critical juncture?

In Chennai, the first major public protest happened on 16 December 2019. We gathered with placards and slogans, and watched politicians speak about the injustice of the CAA while also pillorying their adversaries. The beat of theparai drum was electric and the chief sloganeer led us to animatedly raise our voices to decry how the CAA and NRC combined can affect its own citizens. The slogans simultaneously expressed outrage, hurt, and importantly, unity. The feeling of people coming together suffused the air with a brief optimism that the situation might turn out differently.