Hundreds protest in Washington against CAA, NRC

Washington: Braving the cold weather, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Embassy of India here Sunday to protest against India’s controversial Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and also the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The “Rally Against NRC, CAA”, held on Sunday in front of the iconic statue of Mahatma Gandhi, was attended by more than 500 people, making it one of the largest protest rallies held at the venue in recent years, reports The American Bazaar.

A popular chant repeated throughout the protest, was “azadi”, a Hindi and Urdu word which translates to “freedom”.

“We are not supposed to be like this, we are a secular, democratic republic,” said Basil Baby, an immigrant from Kerala.

“Now the government is trying to divide people by their religion or religious views, which is not right. This is not who we are. So we are doing a peaceful protest here.”

While a large percentage of the crowd was first-generation Indian American Muslims, the event saw Indian-americans of different faiths and sub-nationalities. Many first-generation Indian-americans, who spent their formative years in India, came with their children.

For those present, the protest served two main purposes: to raise awareness and to send a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the rest of the Indian government.

A resolution passed by the organizers of the rally said the possible implementation of both CAA and NRC “is likely to cause huge conflicts between the majority and minority communities, reducing the citizenship status of Indian Muslims”.

“As evidenced by the recent chaos in Assam and Kashmir, and elsewhere, these Acts are likely to cause much harm to the Indian nation and the Indian people,” The American Bazaar quoted the resolution as saying