On December 11, 2019, the Indian Parliament passed amendments to the Citizenship Act that sparked off an unprecedented nationwide protest ...
On December 11, 2019, the Indian Parliament passed amendments to the Citizenship Act that sparked off an unprecedented nationwide protest movement against the legislation, the controversial promise to institute a National Register of Citizens and other government policies that discriminate against Muslims and violate Constitutional norms.
One year later, after riots in Delhi, a deeply flawed investigation into the communal violence and the Covid-19 pandemic putting a halt to public sit-ins, Scroll.in returns to speak to some of those who participated in this truly remarkable moment in Indian history.
Read all the pieces in this series here.
On December 19, 2019, as protests against the amended Citizenship Act erupted in Khadra, Lucknow, Mahenoor Chaudhry, 38, decided to shut his scrap shop and go home.
The protests had been sparked by legal changes a week earlier that for the first time introduced a religious test for Indian citizenship. To make matters worse, Home Minister Amit Shah repeatedly linked the law to a proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens. Critics feared that this exercise would be used as an instrument to harass Indian Muslims. Across the country, demonstrators took to the streets to protest the amended law.
In Uttar Pradesh, protests had been held in several districts. As the demonstrations grew larger, the...
