Video Producer: Debayan Dutta
Across the country, as protests against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), NRC and police violence on students escalate, it isn’t just the students themselves who are coming out in numbers on the streets. Parents of several students are joining the demonstrations as well.
We caught up with some of the protesting parents, to find out the reasons behind their opposition.
Shamim, whose daughter studies Law at Jamia, recounts how worried she was on the night of 15 December, when news started spreading of Delhi Police entering the campus and beating up students.
“We were worried all night. The campus was closed down from all sides and they were so brutally beaten up. They are kids, not terrorists... but that's how they were treated,” she says.
Another parent at the protest adds, “We had tears in our eyes looking at the kids screaming when they were thrashed.”
Speaking to The Quint at a protest in Delhi, Sultana asks, “Is this not our country? Haven't Muslims fought the battle for India's freedom? Don't we love our country? Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and other religions – we all live in harmony.”
In Bengaluru, Sukanya Srinivas’ daughter was among those taken to SJ Park Police Station for protesting against CAA-NRC and its violent fallout.
Sukanya spoke to The Quint outside the police station and expressed her support to the protesting students: “I thought my daughter needs to have the courage of conviction for what she believes in and so, I supported her. I only said, 'Be safe’. Some reporter called and told me that she has been detained by the police. So, my husband and I came to get her out and see what's happening... and to support her and her friends, because I think a lot of other parents did not know what had happened.”
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