The scene outside Ranchi’s Haj House has been reminiscent of New Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh since January 19 — the day when a few hundred women of the Muslim community decided to stage a protest here against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Cut to February 18, exactly a month since the protest began, the place has a huge canopy that provides shade to the protesting women, a kitchen where meals are prepared, and a dedicated

office where the organisers of the protest answer queries of mediapersons.

The strength of protestors here has grown manifold in the past one month. Right from young children, to school going women and middle-aged homemakers to college students — women from different age brackets and walks of life have garnered the courage and motivation to become a part of the protests and aggressively campaign against the CAA.

Ghazala, a 60-year-old woman who has been a part of the protest since day 1, said that the protest is unlikely to mellow down. “Most of the women here do not even know how to read and write. How does the Government expect that they would get documents to prove their nationality? We are spreading awareness among these women about their constitutional rights, and I am sure that they are determined to fight for a better country,” she said.  

Ladle Khan, a member of the Islamia Committee and one of the organisers of the protest, said that the protest has grown immensely in the past one month. “A few hundred women started the protest. And today, thousands of women from across Jharkhand are supporting them,” he said. “The Government has to withdraw the unconstitutional CAA, only then will this protest end,” he added.

Ranchi has witnessed several peaceful protests against CAA and NRC since the results of the 2019 Assembly elections were out. Several members of the Muslim community and student organisations took out protest rallies on Mahatma Gandhi Road in the first week of January and raised concern over the implementation of the controversial law. To counter the impact of the protests and spread awareness about NRC and CAA, BJP launched a statewide campaign here last month. As a part of the campaign, BJP leaders are visiting different parts of the State and clearing the misconceptions about the laws. On January 13, the BJP took out rallies across the State and also formed a human chain in favour of the NRC and CAA.

The Rajya Sabha gave its nod to the CAA on December 11. The CAA intends to allow Indian citizenship to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis and Buddhists from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan assuming religious persecution to be a reason for their migration to India. The opposition parties, however, are seeing the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) as a conspiracy to marginalise the Muslim community.