PROTEST!

Even those of us disinterested in politics and way down here in the South had an inkling at the back of our minds as to what was in store for us when the BJP came to power. At the back of our minds we remembered the Gujarat riots of 2002 and before that the images in the news of the Rath Yatra and the demolition of the Babri Masjid. It is inevitable really that what is happening now has happened. So here it is, up on my blog as well and that too as the first post for the new decade.

The picture above was taken on the 5th Jan 2020 protest by M.Basu @basutramp.

I first went tentatively to a protest at the Town Hall on the 19th of December 2019 (above). I went too early at first, then I went again to be met with barred gates at Unity Building and a tense atmosphere. I was told that Ramachandra Guha had been arrested. Then thanks to friends on social media telling me that protests had been allowed by the police I went yet again at 4 pm to catch the remainder of the protest. I remained on the fringes but I went. I never ever though I would attend a political protest in my lifetime but I went because of how strongly I felt about the terror that was gripping my country.

The photograph below is taken by Nisha Abdulla at Quduss Sahib Eidgah on the 23rd of Dec 2019. Her account gives you an idea about the scale of protests even down here in the South in Bangalore.

Then yesterday a friend, seeing my social media posts asked me to accompany her to yet another protest she was attending. I was glad to have company. Then another friend along with her friends arrived to my home from Delhi, and these days, when friends meet, it seems instead of going pubbing, we attend protests. This time I was in the centre of it all. My friend, a veteran of these recent protests took me up the steps of the Town Hall, she gave me a placard, we held our placards up. We chanted Azadi, Azadi, Azadi  which means FREEDOM and Dhikkara which means BE DAMNED to the people who hold power and who have created this calamity.

The picture below is taken by S.Chatterjee @theshroomtea from the other side of the protests.

We were all there, my former publisher, my former teacher, my colleagues from my profession, Irom Sharmila with her twin babies, poets, rap musicians, artists, children, activists, lawyers, we were all in this together while a ring of policemen stood passively and watched us (had they been given one order from above, the situation could have changed in an instant), but we felt powerful, we would not let this country be divided on the basis of religion. Then as we returned home we read on our newsfeeds that armed thugs had attacked JNU. 

This standoff between the government and the citizens of India will not end soon. It is a very long fight to freedom. 

BLOOD AND SOIL IN NARENDRA MODI'S INDIA