On March 15, the first Friday of the holy month of Ramzan, the Uttar Pradesh police allegedly put some anti-CAA women protestors under house arrest. These women protestors led the march against the controversial law between 2019 and 2020.
A report by The Wire states that police visited the houses of selected women protestors and barred them from going out. The women were vocal during the first protest when the controversial law was passed by the BJP-led government in the Indian Parliament back in 2019.
On March 11, days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections schedule, the Union Home Ministry announced it will start implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
The CAA aims to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
The Centre’s decision was met with heavy criticism by Opposition parties and several citizens who described the CAA as anti-Muslim and against the ethos of the Indian Constitution.
“Police have been deployed outside my apartment, and policemen are interrogating every guest visiting the apartment. This is humiliating for me and irritating for my neighbours too,” The Wire quoted Eram Fatima, who protested against the CAA back in 2020. She was put under a 24-hour house arrest on March 11, when the notification for implementation of CAA was announced.
Sumaiya Rana, who is also a spokesperson for the Samajwadi Party, also faced a similar situation. “The government put us under arrest to clamp down on democratic voices. Earlier, police used to sit in parking at my apartment, but this time they entered my flat, sat inside my home and did not allow me to go meet my widow’s mother, who is residing in the other locality,” she said.
Describing CAA as discriminatory, she said that any law which is based on religion is unacceptable and against democratic values. “We are not fearful of the Central government’s abuse of power. We will raise our voice against the new citizenship law which discriminates people based on their religious identity,” she said.
No house arrest, claims police
Denying allegations of house arrest, the deputy commissioner of police Raveena Tyagi said that police were deployed to maintain law and order and subvert any potential violent incidents. “Today, on the first Friday of the Islamic month Ramzaan, heavy police were deployed outside the mosques as police were anticipating the outbreak of protests against the CAA,” she said.
