REIMAGINING CITIZENSHIP
Perhaps for the first time since the writing of the constitution, India came together in unprecedented numbers in the winter of 2019 to ask herself what it means to be an Indian. Earlier in the year, nineteen lakh people in Assam were excluded from the National Register of Citizens, and the parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Act, violating the secular foundation of the constitution under the guise of benevolence. Protests against the CAA and NRC emerged across the country, in defence of secular ethos and to protect India’s most vulnerable residents from majoritarian policies. This pan India movement revealed the expanse of the political minds of everyday Indian citizens. Women and young people, many entering political spaces for the first time, lead this movement with resilience and grace. Yet, in the course of the resistance, thousands were arrested, many were injured and some killed through state violence – but, the people persisted.
Join us, on the 13, 14 and 15 August 2021 to celebrate India’s 75th Independence Day, with “Reimagining Citizenship”, a film festival organised by Karwan e Mohabbat, the University of York and the Centre for Equity Studies, to commemorate this historic movement, and the minds and art behind it. We will talk about what being an Indian means today, and what it takes to defend that belongingness. We will see films that document the protests and state repression, and ask fundamental questions about the future of this country. We will also speak to key voices of the resistance, witnesses and survivors of the repression, and artists who gave the movement its soul.
Session 1: 6pm – 7:30 pm
LIVED WAYS OF RESISTANCE : How ordinary Indians live a resistance
LEMONADE HAS NO RELIGION
“Shikanji ka koi dharm nahi hota, Sir, says Chandan with a shy smile.
Meet Chandan, a young man who makes lemonade for community Iftar in Delhi’s New Friends Colony every #Ramzan
Meet Lalaji Devendra Arora who waits for Ramzan when his neighbours send Iftar everyday. The shops at Community Centre in New Friends Colony is a symbol of our country syncretic culture and it proves that no matter what, we stand united with love.
THE RAMLEELA OF AMANULLAH KHAN
“I feel blessed to be born in the town of Kunra in Chhatisgarh,” says #Amanullah Khan, a garment shop owner who is also plays the very popular role of the #Ravan in the annual Ramleela.
INDIA READS, INDIA RESISTS
Fatima Sheikh – Savitribai Phule Library, just 50 meters from the main protest site of Shaheen Bagh. A bus stand converted into a library gave the protest another meaning. People from all walks of life would come and spend time at the library, reading and registering their protest in a revolutionary manner.
INDIA WILL STAND UNITED AGAINST HATE
“Amidst the ruins of Delhi Riots 2020, we must also honour the stories of solidarity between communities who refuse to fall prey to the politics of hate. The smalltown of Malerkotla, farmers join the protests and extend solidarity
A CELEBRATION OF UNITY
It was a sea of yellow as thousands of women from different parts of Punjab and Haryana joined the protesting farmers at the Bahadurgarh Chowk, Tikri border. For centuries women have been told that their place is within the four walls of the house.
On the occassion of #InternationalWomensDay, women activists, farmers and citizens, all stood united against the government and their
divisive new farm laws
Meena Kandasamy is a poet, fiction writer, translator and activist who was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. She has published two collections of poetry, Touch and Ms Militancy, and the critically acclaimed novel, The Gypsy Goddess. Her second novel, When I Hit You, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2018. Her latest novel is Exquisite Cadavers.
Session 2 : 7:30 pm – 9 pm
COST OF RESISTANCE : What people suffered as a consequence of resistance
INDIA WILL STAND UNITED AGAINST HATE
“#DelhiPogrom2020: Human Cost
Farah Naqvi, Suroor Mander and Anjali Bhardwaj share their stories of what they experienced when they went to the riot affected areas.
DELHI POGROM 2020 : HUMAN COST
Farah Naqvi, Suroor Mander and Anjali Bhardwaj share their stories of what they experienced when they went to the riot affected areas.
HOW DELHI POLICE REACTED TO PRO AND ANTI CAA PROTESTORS
A video that highlights the difference in treatment of anti CAA peaceful protestors and those protesting in favour of CAA by Delhi police.
THOSE DARK NIGHTS STILL HAUNT ME
Dr. M A Anwar of Al Hind Hospital, Mustafabad as he recounts the horror of the pogrom in NE Delhi in February, 2020. The 25-bed hospital became the first place of refuge for those grievously injured in the violence left nearly 60 dead and hundreds injured within a week.
JOURNEY OF NILOFER SHEIKH
The approx twenty min long film is an essay into the life of a young, Muslim woman, a teacher and mother of two who participated for the first time in a civil society protest.
It seeks to see the protest from the point of view of a regular Muslim woman – the regular Muslim woman who led the protests from the front to the utter
amazement of the world. It also traces the history, events and moments of the movement contextualising the whole around her specific story.
Sasikanth Senthil is a former IAS officer who resigned in 2019 citing “disillusionment with the state of democracy in the country”. He has since been a key figure in the dissent against the government over the Citizenship Amendment Act and other issues. He has recently joined the Tamil Nadu Congress.
Suroor Mander is an advocate and human rights activist based in Delhi
Natasha is an activist associated with the feminist student organisation named Pinjda Tod which was founded in 2015 to protest against the hostel curfews for women in Delhi colleges. She is a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and a vocal critique of the CAA and NRC. She was arrested on May 24 2020 for allegedly engaging in “premeditated conspiracy” in the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020. She was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. After a year of incarceration she was released on bail in June 2021government.
Anirban Bhattacharya is a researcher and activist, and the former head of the research team at the Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi. His work has been centred around political justice, labour rights, issues concerning caste and gender based discrimination, minority rights, social protection, migration, and democratic rights at large.
