Lucknow's Shaheen Bagh: Protesters refuse to budge as police imposes Sec 144

Much like the Shaheen Bagh protest in Delhi, where sit-in demonstrations led by women and children have been going on for more than a month, the women protesters gathered at Lucknow's Ghantaghar have resolved to continue their agitation until the ruling dispensation decides to scrap the contentious CAA, NRC and NPR.

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): Braving the harsh winter, several women and children, mostly belonging to the Muslim community, continued their peaceful protest for a third day at the iconic Ghantaghar in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow on Sunday against what they call "unconstitutional" Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC), and National Population Register (NPR), even as state police have imposed Section 144 since Saturday night.

Much like the Shaheen Bagh protest in Delhi, where sit-in demonstrations led by women and children have been going on for more than a month, the protesters gathered at Ghantaghar have resolved to continue their agitation until the ruling dispensation decides to scrap the contentious exercises.

"My entire family is here, and we will stay here until NRC, CAA, and NPR are rolled back by the government, " said a woman protester who has been there since Friday.

Raising her concerns over the contradictory statements made by Home Minister Amit Shah, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the implementation of a nationwide NRC, another woman protester said, " We are against NRC and CAA. People at Shaheen Bagh have been protesting for over a month, but the Modi government has not even spoken to them, and Amit Shah says that he will implement NRC, and Modi says that NRC will not be implemented. They are contradicting each other's statement, we don't know who is speaking the truth."

When asked if their protest is in line with the iconic protest at Shaheen Bagh, the woman said, "All my sisters are protesting for so many days, we will also have to come out of our homes and show solidarity with them."

Terming the follow up of NRC with CAA as a "lethal combination", a young female protester said, "We have been speaking to the illiterate people to make them understand how these two measures work together. This is unconstitutional, and we have been requesting the government to take it back. "

With the women refusing to budge from the protest site despite efforts by the state police, the agitation has been gaining momentum.

With the prohibitory orders in place, the women, most of them elderly, have claimed that the policemen snatched their blankets and poured water on the bonfire that they lit to keep themselves warm.