Indian diaspora protests CAA-NRC in Munich; demonstration part of fresh round of agitations across Europe this month

On Saturday, a section of the Indian diaspora in Munich gathered at Odeonsplatz, a tourist hotspot in the city centre, to protest the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Register of Citizens, and the police violence against students and protesters in India. This is the second protest conducted by the Indian diaspora in Munich against the CAA-NRC.

The CAA, it may be recalled, was implemented on 10 January. In Munich, protesters held slogans urging the Indian government to uphold the values of the Indian Constitution. The demonstration was also in solidarity with the attacks on the Jawaharlal Nehru University, the police brutality against the students of Jamia Millia Islamia and the Aligarh Muslim University, as well as the heavy-handed crackdown against peaceful protests in Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and Karnataka.

Banners and posters declared solidarity with student protests in India and also with women’s protests such as the one at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, where hundreds of women — including new mothers — have been protesting for the past four weeks against the CAA-NRC.

The event in Munich started with speeches explaining the CAA and the reason for it being unconstitutional, the problems with the NRC, and addressing the events in India over the past few months. It saw the waving of Indian flags and a rendition of the National Anthem, according to demonstrators, an attempt to subvert the BJP’s rhetoric that labels any dissent against the government as ‘anti-national’.

The protestors also recited Faiz’ revolutionary poem Hum Dekhenge — written against the military dictatorship of Zia ul Haq in Pakistan and adopted by protesters in India. Slogans were also raised in Bengali, English, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu. The attendees, while representing people from across India, also included several locals people.

Fresh rounds of protests across Europe

Cities across Europe saw a renewed round of protests over the last week. On Sunday, protests against CAA-NRC were held in Amsterdam, on Friday and Saturday, protests were held in the German cities of Aachen, Berlin, and Munich. London saw several rounds of protests including on 4 and 11 January. Edinburgh saw protests on Friday, while demonstrations were held in Stockholm on 4 January.

The first round of protests occurred across cities in Europe in the second half of December. A massive protest combining forces from all across Germany is to be held in Berlin on the 18 January. A Europe-wide protest is planned for 1 February in front of the Office of the United Nations at Geneva.