It is not the usual happy faces you’d expect to see on a save-the-date invite for a wedding.
The couple looks grim, with a serious message on the placards they hold. It is a save-the-date wedding invitation alright, but with a twist. The couple in it is raising placards against the newly passed Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens of India (NRC).
Arun Gopi from Thiruvananthapuram and Asha Sekhar from Kollam were both sure this is how they wanted their pre-wedding photos shot. In the photo, shot in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram, Arun holds a placard saying ‘No CAA’, and Asha, one that says ‘No NRC’.
The Kerala couple had been planning their pre-wedding photo shoot when the police action on students of the Jamia Millia Islamia University happened in Delhi on December 15. The students had been attacked after they protested against the newly passed CAA and NRC. This led to students across many parts of the country getting out of their colleges, protesting the controversial Act as well as the violence faced by Jamia and Aligarh Muslims University students, despite section 144 being enforced in many states and cities.
It is in this context that the couple from Kerala took another step forward and decided to mark their protest through their pre-wedding photo shoot. “We both want to register our protest against the CAA and the NRC. I have been politically inclined since my childhood and was earlier the state president of Balasangam,” says Arun, who now works as district treasurer of Kerala State Council for Child Welfare.
Asha has worked as a reporter in several media organisations but is now on a break to prepare for the civil service exams. “We both wanted to pass on a positive message. We never thought it would be accepted so widely. Our friends at First Look Photography shot the photo for us,” Arun says.
The photo asking to save the date for January 31, 2020, got circulated a lot. The couple earned praise for choosing to protest in this unique manner. “We haven’t received any negative response directly. I am glad it’s having a positive impact,” Arun adds.