From housewives to hijab-clad students, women take centre stage in India's protests

Record ID: 1449675

  • Title: From housewives to hijab-clad students, women take centre stage in India's protests
  • Date: 21st December 2019
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN PROTESTING
  • Embargoed: 4th January 2020 20:07
  • Keywords: Citizenship law India Jamia Millia Islamia University New Delhi protests
  • Location: NEW DELHI, INDIA
  • City: NEW DELHI, INDIA
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
  • Reuters ID: LVA003BAX5A9Z
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Anam Hussain and Tanya Tariq, two young Muslim women in India, have been busy preparing placards to protest against a new citizenship law introduced by the government.
    "The whole of India, rather the world, is with us," Tariq, a former student at Jamia Millia Islamia University, said on Saturday (December 21) as she gave some finishing touches to her latest posters. Jamia Millia is a major public university in the capital New Delhi where a large number of Muslims study.
    As protests in India grow by the day against a new citizenship law that critics say targets Muslims, they have drawn many women and girls - some housewives, some students with hijabs covering their hair, and others in full-length burqa robes - in a rare sign of public anger against the government.
    The women can be seen painting graffiti on university walls, organizing rallies and gathering funds for posters and food for protesters.
    Anam Hussain, an architecture student at Jamia, said she had been moved to act after some of her friends had been injured when police stormed the Jamia campus to break up a protest involving hundreds of students last weekend.
    At least 200 students were injured as police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse the crowd. The police have denied using excess force.
    The protests, some of the most widespread in India in recent years, erupted on December 11 after Parliament passed the controversial law, which protesters say is an attack on India's secular foundations.
    The Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi insists the new law is essential as it eases the path for minorities from neighbouring countries to gain Indian citizenship. But critics say it is biased as it excludes Muslim immigrants.
    (Production: Neeraj Khanna, Adnan Abidi, Sunil Kataria)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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