Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim, Purnendu Pritam
From protesters giving roses to policemen, Jamia students offering water to a policeman and carrying another injured policemen to safety, to a policeman singing the national anthem with protesters in Bengaluru, some 'humane' moments from the nation-wide anti-CAA protests won the Internet and our hearts.
Guns & Roses
The nation-wide anti-CAA protests were marked by chaos, commotion, violence and detention. When a massive crowd gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Thursday, 19 December, to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, several participants handed out roses to security and police personnel. Their message was loud and clear – ‘love in return of hatred’, ‘roses for batons’.
Protest Within Limits
A photo from IIM Bangalore, showing students opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act and standing in solidarity with students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, went viral. Students defied Section 144 imposed in Karnataka and a ban on leaving the campus by the authorities by staying indoors but leaving their shoes and placards outside the gate, as a mark of support.
They’re Students, Not ‘Monsters’
Ever since there was violence at protests against CAA by students of Jamia Millia Islamia, with the police entering the campus, beating up and detaining several protesters, large groups of people across the nation have come out on the streets in solidarity with the Jamia students. However, a certain section of people have bashed the students and professors of Jamia on news channels and social media platforms. Some even went to the extent of calling them ‘monsters’.
They need to see the video of protesting students cleaning their campus and the roads after the day’s protests were over. Or the video of how these ‘monsters’ let an ambulance pass, a gesture even politicians fail to show. Or how they served water to a policeman and carried an injured policeman to safety, hours after police laid siege to their campus and beat up their compatriots.
‘All Indians Are My Brothers and Sisters’
In a heart-warming gesture, hundreds of protesters of several Muslim political outfits made way for Sabarimala pilgrims during anti-CAA protests in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore. The video has received a lot of love from netizens.
‘Jana Gana Mana’ United
Despite the imposition of Section 144 in several parts of Karnataka in a late-night order on 18 December, scores of students, advocates, activists and citizens came out in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
In the midst of the chaos, Dr Chetan Singh Rathor, DCP Bengaluru Central, at the forefront of the protests at Town Hall, went viral for his efforts to calm down the young protesters by singing the national anthem. Eventually, the protesters sang along.
Because You Can’t Win Fights on an Empty Stomach
In complete contrast to the clashes between police and protesters, leading to violence in various parts of the country, cops in Delhi and Bengaluru offered tea, bananas and tomato rice to the demonstrators detained for protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
In the national capital, several protesters were detained for defying Section 144 on 19 December. But policemen also offered refreshments at Surajmal Stadium and Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Bawana area of Northwest Delhi.
Similarly, in Bengaluru, more than hundred protesters were detained and taken to Mangala Kalayana Mantapa, a wedding hall, in Kormangala. Realising it was lunch time, police personnel arranged tomato rice for protesters to eat.
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