Anti-Bill stir sees nude protest, rap video
TNN | Feb 2, 2019, 07:07 ISTGUWAHATI: The outpouring of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 took on unusual forms on Friday with a rap music video going viral and a trio of activists staging a nude demonstration.
Rapper Rahul Rajkhowa uploaded a video on Thursday expressing the collective angst of the people, which soon went viral. In the video, the JNU alumnus, 24, questions the impact of the proposed legislation on the communal harmony, ecology and demography of Assam and other north-eastern states.
Three activists of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) chose the front of the state secretariat complex to strip down and shout slogans against PM Modi, CM Sonowal and finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The secretariat is the state’s most secure area and security personnel deployed outside the complex were momentarily caught off-guard by the sudden nude protest. A few policemen quickly grabbed blankets and rushed to cover up the protesters, who were immediately arrested.
“Now let’s talk about citizenship amendment, the constitution kinda feels redundant, kinda feels like you made secularism redundant, cause now you back to dividing religions, giving your minions, our land to spread their seeds on, feed on, leech on,” the lyrics of Rajkhowa’s song say. Talking to TOI, the rapper said, “I was thinking of writing the song. Though initially I wanted to make it in Assamese, later I decided to make it in English so that the entire nation could understand what the bill is all about and that it is not our fight alone but of the rest of the nation. Not many from other parts of the country are concerned about the bill. But after I released the video, people are calling me up and making efforts to understand the people’s resentment.”
While being taken away, the protesters said that their nude protest was symbolic of BJP’s attempts to strip the people of Assam of their identity, culture and language. Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described the nude protest as a disgrace to Assamese culture.
Rapper Rahul Rajkhowa uploaded a video on Thursday expressing the collective angst of the people, which soon went viral. In the video, the JNU alumnus, 24, questions the impact of the proposed legislation on the communal harmony, ecology and demography of Assam and other north-eastern states.
Three activists of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) chose the front of the state secretariat complex to strip down and shout slogans against PM Modi, CM Sonowal and finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The secretariat is the state’s most secure area and security personnel deployed outside the complex were momentarily caught off-guard by the sudden nude protest. A few policemen quickly grabbed blankets and rushed to cover up the protesters, who were immediately arrested.
“Now let’s talk about citizenship amendment, the constitution kinda feels redundant, kinda feels like you made secularism redundant, cause now you back to dividing religions, giving your minions, our land to spread their seeds on, feed on, leech on,” the lyrics of Rajkhowa’s song say. Talking to TOI, the rapper said, “I was thinking of writing the song. Though initially I wanted to make it in Assamese, later I decided to make it in English so that the entire nation could understand what the bill is all about and that it is not our fight alone but of the rest of the nation. Not many from other parts of the country are concerned about the bill. But after I released the video, people are calling me up and making efforts to understand the people’s resentment.”
While being taken away, the protesters said that their nude protest was symbolic of BJP’s attempts to strip the people of Assam of their identity, culture and language. Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described the nude protest as a disgrace to Assamese culture.
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