57-year-old dies of heart attack during CAA protest

An elderly apparently died of heart attack early on Sunday while protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) at an ongoing Shaheen Bagh-style agitation at Park Circus Maidan in the city.

Sameeda Khatoon (57), the deceased, was a resident of Entally in central part of the city. She is survived by her husband, Mohammed Alauddin Ali and their eight children.

At around 12.40 am she fell unconscious at the agitation venue due to high blood pressure, according to sources. Khatoon was rushed by her family members and fellows to nearby Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital. Later she was referred to Islamia Hospital where she was declared brought dead.

Asmat Jamil, one of the organisers of the Park Circus Maidan agitation, said, “We are in deep grief at the sudden demise of Khatoon, an activist of Park Circus Shaheen Bagh Manch. We express our sympathy with the bereaved family members and pledge to carry the movement in which she was actively involved against NRC-NPR-CAA.”

In the afternoon the demonstrators wearing black badges observed a two-minute silence in Khatoon’s memory. One of them recalled that Khatoon used to come at 3pm daily to the agitation venue, where several hundred people including 250 women from the city had been staging a peaceful sit-in demonstration since January 7 against the new act, and stayed till 1 am to extend her solidarity to the protest.

“Like previous days, she also came on Saturday. Her family members including children were also present there,” he said.

A political slugfest has however began over Khatoon’s citizenship. Expressing his doubt, state BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu wondered if the deceased protester was a Bangladeshi national. He also claimed that majority of the protesters at the Park Circus Maidan were from the neighbouring country.