India’s road-block women vow to fight on against citizenship law

NEW DELHI: Every night, 75-year-old Noornissa braves the freezing cold to help block one of the main roads into the capital of India, in a protest that is at the forefront of a rising challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For nearly four weeks, Noornissa and more than 200 other women have sat and slept across the four-lane road between Delhi and the satellite city Noida, gaining nationwide attention as protests erupted across India over a controversial citizenship law that critics say is anti-Muslim.

Men stand guard as the women, from the mainly Muslim area of Shaheen Bagh, sing the US civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome” and chant against the Citizenship Amendment Act, passed last month by Modi´s Hindu nationalist government.

The law has added to the fears of India´s 200 million Muslims. It gives Hindus, Buddhists, Sikh and other minorities who have fled neighbouring countries the right to Indian citizenship — but Muslims are excluded. Modi has insisted the law is “humanitarian” and that Muslims have nothing to worry about, but opponents are not convinced and have held rallies across the South Asian nation — often met with police force. Authorities have warned the Shaheen Bagh protesters that the police will clear the road if they do not leave, but the women are determined to stay. “I was born in India and I want to die here,” Noornissa told AFP, her frail frame shaking with emotion. “I will fight this law until my last breath. Gul Bano, 51, her face covered with a veil, described the protest as “a fight for our identity”. Suffering some of the lowest temperatures in Delhi for decades, Noornissa sleeps on the street, wrapped in blankets with only her silver hair visible. The women with her include grandmothers and younger women, many with toddlers in tow.