As the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act continues to mount across the nation, there are several examples of courage and defiance, in line with Mahatma Gandhi¡¯s Civil Disobedience Movement, that are unfolding from all parts of the country.?
Lyricist and comedian Varun Grover had come up with an anthem of sorts against the CAA/NRC/NPR, ¡°Hum Kagaz Nahin Dikhayenge¡± and since then several protests have witnessed its recital by thousands of people.?
Grover had originally posted a video of his narrating a poem/song written by him titled, ¡®hum kaagaz nahin dikhaayenge¡¯. He tweeted the video with the caption, ¡®Inspired by the spirit of every protestor and India-lover. With hat-tips to Rahat Indori saab and the Bangla slogans.
Now, it has come to light that Muslims in Neemuch and surrounding districts of Madhya Pradesh have refused to show their identity papers such as the Aadhar card to government officials for ration cards and availing food eligibility slips.?
Situated near the Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan border, Neemuch is some 430 kms away from MP capital of Bhopal. Of its 1.28 lakh population, about 30,000 are Muslims.?
¡°When we go into Muslim-dominated localities they don¡¯t show their ration cards. They don¡¯t show their aadhar cards and voter I-cards as well with help of which we could verify the credentials of the ration cards and food eligibility slips holders,¡± an anganwadi assistant in Neemuch, Veena Pathrod was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.?
This is also not the first instance of its kind. Earlier, a gold medalist from Jadavpur University tore a copy of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act to shreds while receiving her degree at the convocation ceremony at the university.?
The name of the student was Debasmita Chowdhury, who was from the department of international relations. She went up to the dice to receive her degree along with a copy of the controversial act. She then faced the gathering and addressed loudly: ¡°Hum Kagaz Nahin Dikhayenge¡± (I will not show my papers).?
The given slogan, the crux of a poem composed by lyricist and comedian Varun Grover calls for an act of Civil Disobedience of sorts by not showing the concerned papers when demanded by the authorities as a token of registering one¡¯s protest and dissent at the Act that has sent fire waves in several parts of the country.?
In just a little more than 12 hours, the video had been viewed over 230k times and retweeted over 15k times and since then there has been no stopping it. Grover had also invited everyone to modify the lyrics they want to, this anthem belongs to all, and according to him, there is no copyright on these words.?
And Bengali artists too have come up with another version of the anthem in their language.??