- Title: "We are Indians" - say Muslims protesting against India's citizenship law
- Date: 23rd December 2019
- Summary: NEW DELHI, INDIA (DECEMBER 20, 2019) (ANI - NO USE INDIA) HUGE CROWD OF PROTESTERS GATHERED OUTSIDE JAMA MASJID MOSQUE PROTESTER HOLDING INDIAN NATIONAL FLAG PLACARD READING (English): 'SAVE THE CONSTITUTION' PROTESTER STANDING ATOP OF A BUILDING HOLDING A BANNER READING (English): 'REJECT NRC (NATIONAL REGISTER OF CITIZENS) & CAA (CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT)' VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS HOLDING INDIAN NATIONAL FLAGS AND CHANTING SLOGANS BENGALURU, KARNATAKA, INDIA (DECEMBER 23, 2019) (ANI - NO USE INDIA) (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROTESTER, ZIA (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: "The thing is, we are united. We are Indians, we don't go any patriotism, we don't want to build any kind of Muslim region or something like that. As though we are an Indian, we stand as an Indian. So, it's our duty, it's our national anthem that we should do everything. So that's the reason we go behind that, it's our national anthem. It's our right. We are showing that we are not based on our religions. We stand as Indian, we die as Indian." NEW DELHI, INDIA (DECEMBER 22, 2019) (ANI - NO USE INDIA) PROTESTERS INCLUDING STUDENTS, MARCHING AND CARRYING LONG TRI-COLOURED CLOTH REPRESENTING COLOURS OF THE INDIAN FLAG PROTESTERS, SOME WITH A TAPE ON THEIR MOUTHS, STANDING HOLDING PLACARDS VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CARRYING LONG TRI-COLOURED CLOTH 15. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS SHOUTING SLOGANS PROTESTERS SHOUTING SLOGANS, HOLDING INDIAN NATIONAL FLAG NEW DELHI, INDIA (DECEMBER 23, 2019) (ANI - NO USE INDIA) (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) PROTESTER, ZAIB RASEB, SAYING: "People are joining this movement (anti-citizenship act protests) because they love the Indian Constitution and love this country. They do not want to divide this nation again (based on religion). They want to save the country and that is why they are standing with us and we are also fighting because the Constitution which was given to us by 'Babasaheb' (Bhim Rao Ambedkar) which gives us the right to equality, we are fighting for that." VARIOUS OF WOMEN PROTESTERS SHOUTING SLOGANS, HOLDING INDIAN NATIONAL FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) PROTESTER AND MEDICAL STUDENT, IRSHAD (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: "Our country has unity in diversity. People of different religions live here together and it is known for this in the world. The national flag also shows that we are one. But what Modi (Narendra Modi) is doing is targeting a single religion and has brought this CAA and Muslims have been left out from that."
- Embargoed: 6th January 2020 15:34
- Keywords: Afghanistan Bangladesh Citizenship Amendment Act Citizenship Law Hindu Muslims New Delhi Pakistan
- Location: NEW DELHI AND BENGALURU, KARNATAKA, INDIA
- City: NEW DELHI AND BENGALURU, KARNATAKA, INDIA
- Country: India
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA001BB730HZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Waving India's national flags and carrying copies of India's constitution, Indian Muslims protesting against a citizenship law which they say is discriminatory, aim to show that they are every bit as 'Indian' as those who support the Hindu nationalist government.
The protesters wear Muslim caps and many of the women wear the hijab headscarves, but they also sing national songs, read out sections of the constitution and carry pictures of independence hero Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, who led the drafting of the constitution.
Protesters say displays of patriotism help dispel the notion that protests are a Muslim issue. Tens of thousands of Hindus have also joined.
At least 21 people have died in the protests against the new citizenship law and a planned national register of citizens, which protesters say contravene the secular constitution and discriminate against Muslims. The law gives non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who fled to India before 2015 a pathway to citizenship. It does not apply to Muslims.
India's Muslims, who form about 14% of the Hindu-majority country's 1.3 billion people, say they are often called anti-national and Pakistani. Muslim Pakistan was carved out of British colonial India when the countries gained independence in their bloody 1947 partition and have since fought three wars.
Muslim protesters at the Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi said that police who stormed the campus on December 15 with tear gas and batons called them "Pakistani citizens" and "Islamic militants". Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself appeared to make a veiled allusion to Muslims resorting to violence during the protests.
(Production: Eileen Hsieh) - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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