DESPARDES — Few students of Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) sang a version of poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s iconic ‘Hum Dekhenge’ (We’ll See) during excursion to a snowy hilltop. It was reportedly an expression of protest against PM Modi-led government’s faith-based amendment to the Citizenship Act.
At 14,000 feet above Mean Sea Level (MSL), a Faiz poem being rendered by Indian students is a trifecta — it went viral.
Expressing protests against CAA using Faiz’s “Hum Dekhenge” (“We’ll See”) battle-cry that put him in jail in early 80s, was also translated in other Indian regional languages.
The Bhojpuri version:
In Kerala, the Malayalam version of “We’ll See” was sung — reportedly during a 650km long protest against the amendment:
Protests by students, youth, activists in the world’s largest democracy seem to be the “new normal”.
The exclusionary legislation has caused great and sometimes violent protests to take place not only in India, but also in the United States.
“As a country that publicized itself as the world’s largest democracy, it’s kind of hypocritical of them to pass this amendment that is pretty discriminatory,” says Neha Arun, freshman in College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (LAS) at Illinois.
The country’s parliament enacted legislation that amended the Citizenship Act of 1955 by providing a fast-track path to Indian citizenship for illegal migrants of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities — it excludes those who are Muslims and therefore millions have been rendered stateless.
Additionally, the National Register of Citizens (NCR), an official record of those who are legal Indian citizens, causes fear that it will be implemented as a nationwide legislation. The NRC paired with the CAA sit as the cause of the international protests. This duo could potentially allow India’s government to qualify minorities as illegal immigrants.
On Wednesday, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) police used baton and tear gas to disperse women peacefully protesting against the CAA in the wee hours — around 3-4am. Scores were arrested in Azamgarh district.
