REIMAGINING CITIZENSHIP
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.
On day 3 of the festival, we look at how art expresses resistance and ways of belonging in diverse cultures.
SESSION ONE : 6 pm to 7:30 pm
Resistance through Art

THE REVOLUTION WILL BE PAINTED
Meet the band of young artists who started painting on the walls of Jamia Millia University to express their feelings and angst in response to the brutal police crackdown in the university on 15 December, 2019.
MAIN INKAR KARTA HOON
Aamir Aziz echoes the feeling of resistance and protest that surrounded us during the months of CAA protests. Makes us look back at our fight for independence and remember the ‘idea of India’ which was based on the Constitution that promised each citizen equal rights and justice.


THE UNSUBTLE ART OF DISSENT
Varun Grover answers questions you’ve always wanted to ask. How much money does the opposition pay to stand-up comics? When does it become okay to speak nonsense?
SHAHEEN BAGH – A Protest that inspired a Nation
The Shaheen Bagh sit-in protest led by Muslim women reaffirmed that the people of India understand their Constitutional rights and can will fight not only for themselves but for others too. Shaheen Bagh has shown us a people’s democracy in action. Shaheen Bagh will live forever.

BELLA CIAO – Punjabi version for #FarmersProtests
Listen to the melodious voice of Poojan Sahil as he pays tribute to the farmers of Punjab protesting on Delhi’s Tikri border, against the 3 new farm bills. After facing water cannons and lathis of the police, the farmers continue their protest to become symbols of resilience and bravery.
Varun Grover is a stand-up comic, writer and poet. He is known for his sharp wit and political musings.
Aamir Aziz is a delhi based poet from Patna. Known for his resistance poetry, he rose to fame with his poem Acche Din Blues.
Sabika is a performative poet and the Founder of Sar-e-Rahguzar: Poetry on the Streets. She is a story-teller, translator, alternative educator and campaigner.
SESSION TWO - 7:30 pm to 9 pm
Ways of Belonging - Solidarity as Resistance

INDIA – A LOVE STORY
The story of Sharda Baruah’s life and love is also the story of the best version of India. An India we have been, one we are capable of being again. In 1958, she married U L Baruah, but this love between a Hindu woman and a Muslim man transcended way beyond religious identities.
RIGHT TO AN EQUAL LOVE
In a joyful, glorious celebration of love and marriage in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, 15 transgender persons married the men they love. The ceremonies were inspired by a mix of Hindu tradition and #Bollywood. For once, those who have been relegated to the margins of mainstream family life and celebrations, created a space for themselves and for their own loves.


GEORGINA LAZAR AND HER URDU BIBLE
The story of Tai-ji of Turkman Gate or Georgina Lazar who reads her bible in Urdu.
THE UNITED COLOURS OF BASANT
Do the colours of nature have a religion? Can we allow the joy of seasons to be tainted by bigotry? “My mother used to make two pigtails for me and decorate them with yellow ribbons, as if to admire her child as installation art…” On Basant Panchmi, Madan Gopal Singh sings about the universal joy of immersing oneself in the beauty of the Universe.

Harsh Mander is a social justice and human rights activists. He works with survivors of mass violence and hunger, as well as homeless persons and street children.He is also co-investigator for the Reimagining Citizenship Project
Apoorvanand teaches Hindi at the Department of Hindi, University of Delhi. He is a literary and cultural critic. Has two books of essays in criticism and several articles published in major literary journals.
Navsharan Singh is a Delhi-based researcher and human rights activist. She has worked and published extensively on informal sector workers, especially women workers and the precarity of their work and lives.