Taking Shaheen Bagh to a new plateau

  By  Javeed Mirza

Shaheen Bagh, a creative and dynamic symbol of protest against CAA, NRC and NPR that inspired many similar protests around the country and forged new alignment of Muslim women with secular minded non-Muslims, needs to be placed on a new plateau. The imminent exponential growth of the Corona virus or Covid-19, a deadly menace that seeks to disrupt and devastate all members of society and the nation’s health system, demands that Shaheen Bagh be reconfigured.

Shaheen Bagh served to put the demand to ban CAA and NRC and stop NPR, on the top of the nation’s agenda. Even though its demands were not formally met, it can be stated without hesitation that it achieved great success. Many states have passed laws not to implement CAA or support NRC and some states have stopped NPR or seek to amend it and use the previous format. The peoples support for Shaheen Bagh was one of the reasons for the BJP loss in the Delhi elections of Feb 2020. It contributed to the realignment among the political parties, isolating the BJP. It also served to energize the students/youth and created a new wave of protest movement… the Azadi 2 movement.

It also showed many weaknesses. Its main strength was the Muslim masses with the women in the front. It did crystallize the fact that the ban against CAA, NRC and NPR posed as much of an existential problem for most of the non-Muslims as for the Muslims, especially the poor who would be bereft of any documents to prove their citizenship. However, it could gather little support from the broad masses of the non-Muslims. In that sense, it was also an isolated movement. The narrowness of the demands, primarily political and not linked to bread and butter, also saw most of the working class keeping themselves at a distance. The peasants played no role. A good section of the non-Muslim middle class opposed it as they viewed it from a sectarian angle of Muslim vs Hindu.

Covid-19 is a pandemic that has thrown the world into a turmoil. It is wrecking the lives and the economies of most countries of the world. It is a totally new phenomena with huge consequences. It is bound to have a huge impact in India and create a maelstrom in the national political milieu. The Indian Health system has been a grossly neglected system with the state providing little support. Both at the Center and at the state level, efforts were made to degrade the public health system so that the private sector could reap benefit. With Covid-19 staring in face, there is no way the Indian govt. at the center or the state level will be able to cope with it. Spread of disease will be exponential (like in China or Italy or Iran and other countries). Disease and death are bound to multiply with every passing day.

Among the many reasons attributed for the spread of the pandemic is the proximity to human beings. This allows the virus to be communicated to others through sputum and touch. “Social distancing” is advocated as a means to “flattening the curve” (i.e. to stop it from shooting up rapidly and instead to make it develop at a lower speed). This permits the doctors to deal with it and treat the patients. The exponential sudden spike, seen in many countries, disrupts and disallows treatment as the health system is unable to cope with the sudden avalanche and breaks down. There is no antidote so far and it is being worked on. Palliative medicines and home treatments are advocated (drinking hot liquids, keeping hands clean, covering face with masks when close to others). The Indian govt’s hands are tied as the necessary infrastructure is missing (vast number of hospital beds, ventilators, medicines, absence of insurance and limitations of existing insurance schemes,  as well as the poor capacity of the marginalized to purchase or avail services of private hospitals). It is hard to visualize the Indian govt. doing a good job to tackle this burning problem, what with the absence of allocation of resources and non-coordination of states with center and the entrenchment of a corrupt bureaucracy. The virus will also devastate the economy. Lots of companies will lose value and lay off. Forced quarantine and lockdown (as seen in some countries) will also affect the economy. The nation could well be facing a national calamity.

Shaheen Bagh needs to step back under the circumstances. It should not add its woes to the national calamity. The Indian Home minister has said recently that No documents need to be shown and that there will be no “D” (Doubtful) placed against anyone. Irrespective of the Home Ministers statements, the succinct slogan of “Kaghaz nahi dikhaenge” should serve to meet its objectives. Many state govts. are supportive of the Shaheen bagh demands and there is nothing really that the Central govt. can do further.

The withdrawal of Shaheen bagh/s from its physical locations (or a nominal upkeep with young men/women sitting as token protest) will be a moral victory. The creative cadre that worked for its success should now work to slow the spread of pandemic and provide relief wherever possible. The Covid-19 is a national emergency and demands high priority. It is also an existential issue, like the ban of CAA, NCR and NPR for the Muslims and most of the Indian poor.

The coping of the dual national calamities of virus spreading and the fall of the Indian economy, will open new avenues for the protest to develop. This protest will bring all sections of people together and not isolate the Muslims. It will nail the Center and the state govts for their failure. It will take the protest to a new plateau. This will be the next step and the new challenge in the protest movement. Massive online protests and internet-based learning and coordination should be initiated. Creativity should burst again, and new avenues of protest should be sought, discovered and adopted.  Bonds of friendship should be forged among all sections of the affected people. The Center and States will start wobbling in a short time and a counterweight would be built to overtake the inept and antipeople rulers who masquerade as champions of development!   …