Despite police pressure, women at Bengaluru's Bilal Bagh continue protest against CAA

“We have been here for five days and nights, and nobody can make us get up and leave from here unless our demands are met,” Syed Imran, one of the leaders of the protest at Bilal mosque, near Tannery road in Bengaluru proclaims, to shouts and applause.  The protest at Bilal Bagh against NRC and CAA started on February 8, and is a complete set up with carpets, shamiana, sound systems and lights. It has been ongoing non-stop for the past four days, organised by local Muslim leaders, and has seen people from the community, students and others participating.

The police had previously taken down the protesters’ numbers, and contacted them or their families to stop the protest, according to the Deccan Herald. The organisers say they were even called to the police station, and urged to stop the protest. But the protest goes on unabated.

Imran says, “This protest movement is the longest that I can remember,” while addressing the group of women and men, who were gathered under a shamiana. “The only time people across the country mobilized like this in protest, was probably only during independence!” 

Women and men sat in a semi-circle around the stage, dominated by a large tricolour flag. A woman holds the mic and urges the protesters, sitting on blue plastic chairs, to respond after her. They shout in great enthusiasm, even though it is almost lunchtime. Some of the slogans which were called out include:

"Gundagardhi nahi chalegi"

"CAA down down"

"Inquilab Zindabad"

“The mosque has issued in writing that they are not the ones who are supporting this protest. Local leaders are supporting it financially, including Ismail Shariff. There are people here cooking and serving each other, and even students who stay up all night to protest and then sleep here. This is a real 24-hour protest.” Imran adds. 

The shamiana has been set up on the middle of the road, and though no traffic can pass through, surrounding businesses continue as usual. A construction steel business close-by unloaded some iron from a lorry even as protesters were shouting slogans against the government.

Protest organisers say that rather than winding up, they are going to try make the protest even more interactive and educational.

“We are planning to have a workshop on how to document these protests on February 13 evening. We are also starting a library of pertinent material to read, and have been asking for donations", said Ahmed, a doctor who said that he quit from one of the two hospitals where he was working at, in order to be more active in the protests. 

The students who joined the protest have also made a “resistance wall”, a wall complete with posters, with slogans written all over them denouncing Modi, NRC, CAA, Fascism and Communalism. one of the students present there said she was taking a semester break from college to join in the protests.

“The people become more active in the evening, and more even people join us for raising slogans after work,” one of the organisers said.