Amid the ongoing protest in Jamia Millia Islamia University upon the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a student has decided to use her wedding ceremony to protest against the new law.
A protest in a wedding ceremony
Amina Zakiah, a postgraduate student at Jamia Millia Islamia University, lives in the Abul Fazl Enclave locality. The student stated that she was a member of the protest and had joined in the movement which took place two days before her marriage.
“As a student of Jamia and a worried citizen of this country, I had to manage my wedding as a spot to put my voice against the National Register of Citizens and discriminatory CAA as it will influence the secular foundation of our country,” she said.
The family spoke to the groom a day before marriage and gratefully they agreed to participate in this unique form of protest. In the pictures of the wedding, the bride and groom can be noticed holding placards mentioning “No CAA and No NRC” while the rest of the family members hold poetry opposing the law.
“We carried the placards amongst our close family members and they are all conscious of the situation. We are not that politically engaged but we have to express our opinion and disagreement. This was just a small effort,” the family said.
An anti-CAA and NRC
Zakiah said that the thought came to her as she could not participate in the further anti-CAA and NRC protests due to her marriage. The student then chose to use her marriage as a platform to protest.
“The clash broke out when the last leg of preparations and the state for the wedding changed. We were considering how to deal with this and that is when we believed we should show our disapproval at the wedding as well,” Mariyam Zakiah, Amina’s elder sister told.
Zakiah’s family was over shopping for the wedding on December 15, however, when Delhi police fired tear gas shells and lathi-charged protesters, the family got confused.
“On December 15, we were planning to go to Jamia but we didn’t because we had worked at home. We had no idea it would turn so ugly. Our cousin was returning from shopping when she felt the tear gas burning her eyes. She received messages from her friends trapped in washrooms. It was all very grim,” Mariyam added.
