On the sweltering afternoon of May Day, citizens and various rights groups came together on the street adjacent to Chennai’s well-known Valluvar Kottam to hold a solidarity protest against the targeted attacks against Muslims across the country and the demolitions at Jahangirpuri, a low-income Muslim neighbourhood in New Delhi, where an anti-encroachment driver was carried out after the Ram Navami violence.
The protest in Chennai was organised by several civic groups including Arappor Iyakkam, Makkal Padhai, December 3 Movement, All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee and others. Speaking on divisiveness in society and its cost to a country, Haarish Sulthan of Arrapor Iyakkam, a corruption watch group, pointed to the history of Sri Lanka.
“First there was Sinhala nationalism, targeting of Tamils, and of Muslims. Today, the country has reached the point of economic collapse. Now, even Sinhalas are coming together against the Rajapaksas. It started with linguistic and racial chauvinism,” he said. “If we in India cannot learn from an example unfolding before our very eyes, no one can save us,” Haarish added, citing the ‘slew of anti-Muslim policies’ such as the recent ban on hijabs in classrooms in Karnataka.
The activist also spoke about his views on the nature of authoritarian governments, “Fascism lies. Hitler lied and lied until they [German] believed what he said to be the truth. Similarly in India, the Modi government is constantly feeding people lies. All of us seem to be spending most of our time refuting the false claims made by them.”
An independent activist, Shakira Bano, too spoke about the hijab ban in Karnataka. “For a girl who is hardly even 18 years old, the hijab is an article of clothing, more than it is a symbol of faith. If you go and ask her, is your clothing more important or your studies, what will she do? In a world in which women, whatever we wear, wether full sleeves or sleeveless, or leggings, we are moral-policed, that extra piece of cloth also becomes a problem in the eyes of men.”
Shakira further talked about the Triple Talaq Act passed by the Union government. “I can welcome its spirit, but what real use is to the woman and children if her husband is jailed for giving talaq (divorce)? How will she manage on a single income or no income? What if she’s not Muslim? What if inside of giving talaq, he just runs away?”
With regard to violence against Muslims which she says has occurred over the years such as in Gujarat and New Delhi, Shakira said that it saddened her to see weapons in the hands of very young people. “The violence always occurs in poor neighbourhoods and it’s always the poor who are the foot soldiers, carrying arms, for those in power fanning hate.”
But the protest was not all just speeches. Karppi Mattrum Samthuva Valligal, an Ambedkarite parai and gaana music band, put on a joyful dance performance accompanied by parai drums and other percussion instruments.
Gaana singer, Stephan, from the same group, sang about cow-slaughter bans, caste discrimination, Islamophobia, Dr Ambedkar, anti-Christian conversion fear-mongering and Hindi imposition. In the same song, he warned against the right-wing’s creation of false historical narratives about Islam and the targeting of poor neighbourhoods, citing the Jahangirpuri example.
“You show your varlour against the poor, would you dare drive the bulldozer to Ambani’s door?” Stephen asks the Prime Minister in his song, adding that the Union government was afraid their regime would topple if people across religious backgrounds came together.
Vignesh Ishwar, a Carnatic musician sang the Tamil Sufi hymn, “Allahavai Naam Thozhuthaal.” Popularised by Nagoor Hanfia, in a new tune set by TM Krishna, the well-known Carnatic musician and activist, also Vingnesh’s teacher.
“I look at fascism from the angle of disability rights,” said Deepak, leader of the December 3 Movement and disabilities rights activist, in his speech. “The attack on Muslims across the world is that of majority groups and imperialist forces versus the minority. Majoritarian thinking is ableism. Just as the world is built for the able-bodied, it is built for the majority group. This is why we at the December 3 movement were among the first to join the anti CAA-NRC protests that took place at this very site.”
He also pointed out that those in majority cannot understand the fear that minorities live under, but added hopefully that, “if in this summer heat, we are all here, it is shows how deep our solidarity lies. And for that solidarity, these crutches and wheelchairs will always come along to stand with you.”
Speaking to TNM, Shakira Bano added that of the people at the protest, there were more non-Muslims than there were Muslims, and that this was a welcome sight.
Sulaiman, one of the protestors, echoed similar sentiments. “I’m happy that there are so many non-Muslims here, even more than there are Muslims. We’re the victims in the situation and these people are standing with us. When other marginalised groups need us to, we will stand with them.” When asked if watching Islamophobia gathering speed across India made him wonder what the future held for Tamil Nadu, he said that as of now, he is unsure, but hopeful, “because Periyar is an important figure in the state.”
Selvi, who works as a cleaner at a Muslim-run school tells TNM that she’d been asked to come there to help out. “In my neighbourhood, we all live together. But from the speeches and songs I heard today, I realised the problems happening across the country are bad.”
Speaking to TNM, Archanaa Seker, from the Vettiver Collective, noted that she has been both a participant at protests and an organiser for ten years, now. “Chennai has been able to be a meaningful centre for solidarity for issues that are far-flung, such as the lynching of Junaid or the Kathua rape case. These protests in turn, become a means to drive local politics; for people to talk about the issues that concern us closely.”
She added, “Fascism is not a local issue, it’s a world-wide issue. This is the bare minimum we must be doing. It’s important to show up, to see familiar faces and to walk away with hope instead of feeling isolated and hopeless.”
Archanaa also feels that recent protests have been shifting their focus to include cultural dissent like song and dance than containing themselves to speeches. “For example, the effect on the crowd during the gaana performance was so different from that of the speeches.”
On that note, the protest ended with a rendition of “Parpome,” the Tamil translation by theatre personality Mangai of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s “Hum Dekhenge.” Faiz’s widely-known song found new popularity at the height of the anti-CAA-NRC protests, as people will remember. Carnatic music singers Sangeetha Sivakumar and Vignesh performed “Parpome” and then writer Perumal Murugan’s “Pesu.”