A number of boards with “No CAA” and “No NRC” written on them were put up on the College Street campus of Calcutta University on the occasion of Saraswati Puja.
Students current and former visiting the campus for the puja took selfies and groupfies in front of the boards in large numbers, signalling their opposition to the amended citizenship regime.
The puja was organised by the students’ union of the College Street campus.
Among those who visited the campus on Wednesday were Sneha Pan, Aisha Zamman, Rubina Khatoon and Arindam Ghosh.
They were sitting on the stairs leading to Central Library of the university, discussing the significance of making the ongoing opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens a theme of Saraswati Puja.
“The campus has been decked out with alpana that says ‘No NPR’ as well as with boards with ‘No CAA’ and ‘No NRC’ written on them on the occasion of Saraswati Puja. This shows the issues have affected people irrespective of community. They now want to express their opposition in whatever way possible,” said Aisha, who is pursuing a PhD in polymer science and technology at Rajabazar science college.
Seated next to Aisha was Sneha, who has done master’s in English from CU.
The lecturer at Gokhale Memorial Girls’ College said the idea to use the occasion of Saraswati Puja to voice opposition to the CAA and NRC demonstrated that the students were becoming more and more politically aware.
“Even as we are celebrating the puja, we cannot be oblivious to the fact that the secular fabric of our society is under threat. This is very much playing in the back of our mind and the decorations are suggestive of that. We should not forget what is happening in the country. People should take a stand,” said Sneha, who had graduated in 2013.
Sneha and her friends took a groupfie in front of a No CAA-No NRC board to signal their protest.
The Saraswati idol was placed in front of Asutosh Building. The passage leading to the idol was decorated with artworks on thermocol boards with “No NRC” and “No CAA” written on them. On some, the words “NRC” and “CAA” were crossed out.
At the entrance was a banner bearing the text of the Preamble to the Constitution.
Next to it was a smaller banner that read: “We demand NRU (National Register of Unemployment). Aagey hok NRU, tarporey hok CAA, NRC, NPR (First you draw up NRU, then draw up CAA, NRC, NPR).”
A student was seen distributing pamphlets containing words from the Preamble.
Arindam Ghosh, a PhD scholar in the English department, said the decorations were sending across a strong message to the majoritarian government against its exclusionary politics.
“This only goes to show that students are opposed to the politics of excluding a particular community.... We have to use every available opportunity to voice our protest,” said Arindam, an assistant professor of English at Krishnachandra College, under Burdwan University.
“Students are matured enough to understand what they are dealing with. No one is forcing them to join any protest,” said Tirthankar Sengupta, an alumnus of the English department who now teaches at a college.