Women are at the forefront of the recent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act
Akhtarista Ansari is not new to protest. In 2017, she marched against discriminatory hostel timings at Jamia Millia Islamia where she studies. Earlier, she was part of a demonstration to demand that the university set up a gender sensitisation committee against sexual harassment.
So, it seemed natural for the 19-year-old Sociology (hons) student to participate in a march led by women against Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens on December 12. “It was the first protest led by the girl’s hostel, which was later joined by all,” she says. Akhtarista is one of the four women students, along with Chanda Yadav, Ladeeda Farsana and Ayesha Renna, who can be seen protecting a male student from a police beating on December 15 on what is now a viral video. As the police, including a man in plainclothes, rain blows on the male student, the women encircle him, shouting at the police, “Go back, go back.”
When her parents who live in Jharkhand heard about the incident, they were worried. Come home, her father, a retired railways employee, said. But, says Akhtarista, “The way the police attacked us and ransacked our library has only made us stronger.” The women have received a lot of abuse online, she says, but equally, they have received messages of solidarity from around the world.