Mumbai Bagh protest, going on for over 10 days now, is akin to the one in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh (File)
A stand-off has erupted in Mumbai between anti-citizenship law protesters inspired by the courageous women of Delhi's Shaheen Bagh and politicians who earlier backed their protests. The politicians want the protest to be called off but the women have refused, declaring they will not move because their protest is not about one place or one venue.
Mumbai Police had earlier given the protesters a notice to vacate by 5 pm, fearing possible clashes with a pro-citizenship law rally scheduled for Sunday that has sought permission to march in the city. The police fear the supporters of the rally could create a law an order problem where the protest are being held.
"Our objective has been achieved and we don't want to create any problems in our city. We know some politicians want to create trouble by holding a rally through the area women are protesting... this could lead to a law and order situation," Naseem Siddiqui, a NCP leader who had earlier backed the protest, said.
The "law and order situation" being referred to is a potential clash with the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which has sought permission for a pro-citizenship and pro-NRC rally on February 9 that will pass through not very far from the area in which the women are protesting.
Police sources fear this could be a ploy to spark communal disturbances. The sources also said permission to take the rally through those spots will be denied.
In this scenario Ms Siddique said it might be appropriate to move the protest to a more secure location and continue after a break. Other politicians who had backed the protest have also agreed to this.
But the women of Mumbai Bagh have refused and have continued their sit-in protest - on a road near Mumbai Central Railway Station that is undergoing repairs - despite the cops' notice and Ms Siddiqui's plea to move to a new location - one where the police will give permission to continue the protest.
"We are the one who started this protest. Politicians came to support and took over the protest... now they want to call it off but the women have made their views very clear," Firoze Mithiborwala, an activist associated with the protest, told NDTV.
She also said political leaders had betrayed the will of the women protesters.
"As far as Raj Thackeray is concerned it is the government's responsibility. We have never been violent and there has been no untoward incident so far here. This is a Satyagraha and this will continue as long as we can," she added.
Anti-citizenship law protests have taken over the country since the Citizenship Amendment Act, or CAA, was pushed through parliament in December, with more than 25 people dying in violent clashes with police across the country.
The CAA makes religion, for the first time, a test of Indian citizenship. The government says this will help non-Muslim refugees from Muslim-dominated neighbouring countries become citizens if they fled here because of religious persecution before 2015. Critics say the CAA discriminates against Muslims and violates secular tenets of the Constitution.
The Shiv Sena, which rules Maharashtra at the head of an alliance that includes the NCP and the Congress, had voted in support of the bill in Lok Sabha, much to the surprise of its new alliance partners.
The party then abstained from voting in the Rajya Sabha, claiming Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement on the matter was not satisfactory.