CAA Protests: In Solidarity With Muslims, Kerala Church Choir Wears Skull Caps & Hijabs
Church choir chose to wear hijab and skull caps to express solidarity with the Muslim community. The 15 singers enthralled the audience with the unusual event at any church. In another show of solidarity people gathered for a football match in Keralas Malappurambegan chants of Azaadi freedom.
Even as 2019 comes to a close, the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act is only gaining momentum with each passing day, with people expressing solidarity in multiple ways.
From weddings, Christmas Celebrations and football matches, every occasion is being used as an opportunity to voice opinions and protest the act.
More recently, demonstrations of dissent at a church in Kerala are winning hearts online. The church choir chose to wear hijab and skull caps to express solidarity with the Muslim community.
At the Saint Thomas Mar Thoma Church in Pathanamthitta region, the youth choir expressed their protest while singing (video below). The female singers dressed in hijabs, and the men dressed in skullcaps to express solidarity with the Muslim community.
This is India, no one can stop the unity of our religions. Please see how these youngsters appeared in their X'mas carol service in solidarity with Indian Muslims and protest against CAA&NRC. This was part of their Christmas carol service in Marthoma Church, Kozhenchery, Kerala. pic.twitter.com/CQjHb4GULn
¡ª Jijoy (@jijoy_matt) December 25, 2019
¡°The song was tuned to Mappilappattu and the singers wore skullcaps and hijab to express solidarity in these times,¡± vicar Rev. Varughese Philip told The Telegraph.
Referring to the Mappilappattu, choirmaster Eapen Mathew said: ¡°That was our way of expressing solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters.¡±
The 15 singers, he added, enthralled the audience with the unusual event at any church.
¡°Even the regular choir songs we presented on Monday addressed the issue over the CAA and the NRC since that was our theme.¡± Every year the church picks a socially relevant theme for its Christmas choir.
¡°Last year it was about the floods that ravaged our state. This year we chose to take up the controversy over the CAA and the NRC since it affects so many people,¡± Mathew said.
How a 7s football venue in Kerala turned into a #CAA_NRC_Protest site. pic.twitter.com/XwMkV6e0Ln
¡ª Kalpanthu (@KalPanthu) December 26, 2019
In another show of solidarity, people gathered for a football match in Kerala's Malappuram, began chants of ¡°Azaadi (freedom)¡± during half-time (video above) on Monday, December 24.
They chanted ¡°azadi¡± in unison demanding the government withdraw the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and scrap plans for a countrywide rollout of the National Register of Citizens.
In yet another wedding, a couple turned their pre-wedding shoot into a political statement. They held placards of No CAA and No NRC and stated that they wanted to keep the crisis faced by the nation as a priority and urged people to stand up against anything that's unconstitutional.
The CAA protests have shown just how creative people have gotten to voice their opinion, from innovative posters to using up every platform, to push for normalcy in the most peaceful way possible and that's commendable.
