Not bullets, flowers: Counter slogans try to flip the narrative

NEW DELHI: A new slogan resonated in Shaheen Bagh, which has been under attack from politicians and even gun-toting men in the last few days, on Sunday — “not bullets, but flowers”.

Thousands across the Capital reached the epicentre of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) amid threats of violence as pro-CAA groups also reached the spot.

To counter the “shoot the traitors” slogan, protesters across Shaheen Bagh pinned the new slogan to their clothes.

“The idea was to replace the hate-filled slogans with love,” said Jaya Iyer, who chanted the “desh ke inn pyaaron par, phool barsao saaro par (shower the loved ones of the country with flowers)” slogan. “Language has a deep impact and if it is polluted, we can succumb to hatred and violence. We have to flip the narrative to counter the hatred,” she said.

Armed with roses like several other women in the staging area, Gul Bano said, “We were not afraid of the bullets that came yesterday (Saturday) or the violent sloganeering that came this morning. We will remain here for our constitutional rights.”

The “violent slogans” that Bano was referring to pointed to the counter-protest held earlier on Sunday by around 200 proCAA demonstrators who demanded the removal of Shaheen Bagh protest and opening Road 13A, which has been blocked since December 15 last year after police attacked students of Jamia Millia Islamia in their campus.

A group of activists and protesters also put up a poster and flowers near the pro-CAA protest spot asking for a dialogue to resolve the issue.

“Like the injured Jamia student, we too want a dialogue. This is why we have put up the poster,” said a member of Friends of Shaheen Bagh, an informal collective.

Language has a deep impact and if it is polluted, we can succumb to hatred and violence. JAYA IYER, anti-CAA protester