Ongoing protests reminder that principles of secular democracy aren't forgotten: JCC

The Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) on Tuesday said that the ongoing protests have been a timely reminder that the principles of secular democracy are not forgotten by India, even as the state machinery is 'deliberately' ignoring them.

Earlier today, JCC carried out a march against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar. Over 50 organizations backed the call and joined the march, which was successfully completed in spite of Section 144 that was imposed at Mandi House, said JCC in a statement.

"We pledge that we will continue the fight against the discriminatory CAA and the exclusionary NRC process. The fight is bound to be long and must be strategized well. The government must take note of this message from the citizens of India, that its rule is not going to go unchecked. The ongoing protests have been a timely reminder that the principles of secular democracy are not forgotten by India, even as the state machinery is deliberately ignoring them," the statement read.

JCC further added that 'fear tactics' employed by the Indian state, including a heavy deployment of force and imposition of section 144, met with 'failure'.

"We have shown that the voice of the people will not be quelled too easily. The students of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) had made a similar statement yesterday with the resumption of their protests against CAA and NRC, again in spite of a heavy deployment of force," said JCC.

Protests across the country have continued strongly in the same vein, and will definitely continue further. The only exception at the moment seems Uttar Pradesh, where there has been a severe assault on Muslim localities and against anti-CAA and NRC protestors, the statement read.

As per official reports, the death toll in UP alone has gone above 20. The news that comes out of UP every hour is highly disheartening, said JCC. It has called out once again for 'humanitarian intervention' in the state of UP, and demand that police and communal atrocities be immediately stopped, said JCC.

"The streak of nationwide protests has already caused ten states to announce that they will not be implementing CAA. However, it is not enough for us to bank on these announcements, as the CAA-NRC combo is a central agenda for the ruling BJP government, and its parent group, the RSS," JCC added.

The Committee urged that the protests must continue, along with educational campaigns and local organization aimed at bringing out more people against CAA-NRC, until the RSS is completely disabled from implementing its agenda of Hindu Rashtra. Meanwhile, RSS-BJP has begun a propaganda campaign, as part of which its machinery will be working to change public opinion on CAA-NRC in its favor. This has to be countered through the propagation of secular and humanist ideologies.

"JCC congratulates the people of Delhi for not flinching in the face of state threats and once more raising their voice strongly against the communal agenda of the BJP-RSS," the statement read.