Stop justifying your Indian-ness because you don’t have to, an actor told a rally against the amended citizenship regime at Park Circus on Friday evening.
“Muslims should stop being apologetic and justifying their rights. They should never consider themselves second-class citizens. They must realise that they have equal rights in this country, guaranteed by the Constitution,” said Mohammed
Zeeshan Ayyub, among the few actors in Mumbai who have been vocal against the document-based citizenship thrust.
At almost every rally against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act-National Register of Citizens-National Population Register, Muslims told Metro how their grandfathers “shed blood” for this country. Ayyub served them a timely reminder that their rights were no less than any other Indian’s, no matter what their forefathers did.
“My grandfather was a farmer. I never saw him. I don’t know if he had participated in the freedom struggle. Does that mean I am any less Indian? No, it doesn’t,” he told the few thousands-strong crowd.
Ayyub — known for his roles in films such as Raanjhanaa (2013), Raees (2017) and Article 15 (2019) — has taken part in several protests against the CAA-NPR-NRC and spent New Year’s eve night at Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia Islamia.
The rally he addressed in Calcutta was held in Tiljala Lane under the Parama flyover, near the Abdul Hamid mosque. The narrow lane was brimming with people and scores were seated on the roof of a club. A section was reserved for women, who turned up in hundreds.
One of the loudest cheers came when Mashkoor Ahmad Usmani, a former president of the Aligarh Muslim University Students’ Union, said: “Those were different people who chose Jinnah’s Pakistan in 1947. We chose Gandhi’s India.”
He had a suggestion for “people demanding a Hindu state — a baba has set up a Hindu rashtra on an island, all who want can go and settle there, because India is not going to change its character”.
In December, reports had surfaced that self-styled godman Nithyananda, a rape accused, had founded a nation called Kailasaa on an island in Ecuador for Hindus.
The crowd at the rally
Hasnain Raza, a student leader from Jamia, took the “Right-wing narrative” bull by its horns. “A section of people keep shouting that Jamia produces terrorists. Look at the UPSC list to see what Jamia produces. Jamia knows how to fight and how to study (Jamia ladhna bhi janta hai, Jamia padhna bhi janta hai),” he said, to a loud applause.
Ayyub, however, was the most-awaited speaker. The volunteers had a tough time organising the crowd once he took the mic.
Unlike some of the previous speakers, Ayyub steered clear of lofty slogans. The graduate from Kirori Mal College, under Delhi University, was candid and discerning.
“You should not give too much importance to Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Governments come and go…. But you must remember that the RSS was not built in a day. It took them seven decades to build the organisation that we see now, with its grassroots connect,” he said.
Always pointing to Shaheen Bagh could be counter-productive, Ayyub said.
“The government knew how to tackle Muslim men — by beating them up. But they don’t know what to do with women. But if you keep pointing to Shaheen Bagh, you are giving them a face to target,” he said.
Equally important is to spread the movement everywhere — “distribute pamphlets, talk about this wherever you go”.
The only time Ayyub raised his voice was when he recited a poem by Urdu poet and lyricist Rahat Indori. The poem ended with these lines: “Jo aaj saahibe masnad hain kal nahin honge/Kiraaydaar hain zaati makaan thodi hain/Sabhi ka khoon shaamil yahan ki mitti me/Kisi ke baap ka Hindustan thodi hain? (Those in seats of power today will not be there tomorrow. These are tenants, they don’t own the house. This land has everybody’s blood. India does not belong to someone’s father.)
The rally, whose theme was Hum Kagaz Nahi Dikhayenge (We will not show papers), was organised by the All India Bazm-e-Ashraf, a body of clerics, and the Garden Reach Peace Movement, a citizens’ collective.
“The BJP and its goons are students of WhatsApp university. So, they have problems with Jamia, JNU, AMU and JU,” said Touseef Ahmed Khan, a lawyer at Calcutta High Court and one of the organisers of the protest.
