Wedlock amidst deadlock

Days after the anti-CAA protest venue at Old Washermanpet in Chennai hosted a marriage, Coimbatore’s Shaheen Bagh turned into a wedding venue for 24-year-old Abdul Kalam and 19-year-old K Reshma Shirin on Thursday. Immediately after the bride and groom took their marriage vows, they shouted slogans against the CAA.
Their marriage was fixed three months ago and like any other couple, they were planning to get married in a marriage hall. However, the current political climate forced them to change their plans.
On Thursday, their marriage was solemnized under a canopy at Athupalam Junction that was erected to provide shade to around 2,000 people, who are protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Registry of Citizens (NRC) and the National People’s Register (NPR).
The couple said they wanted to get married at the venue, “amid people”.
Abdul Kalam, the groom, who is a vegetable dealer from Kuniyamuthur, said, “When everyone is protesting, it didn’t feel right for us to get married in a hall. We are happy that we got married in the presence of such a large crowd, but at the same time we are sad that we had to start our married life here because of such laws. There are several others like us. We don’t want this to happen to them. The CAA, NPR and NRC should be repealed.” he said.
On her part, Reshma Shirin, of Karumbukkadai, said they were happy that they could send out a statement through their marriage. “We think our nikkah was revolutionary. We want the CAA, NPR and NRC to be repealed,” she said.
Representatives of Jamath organizations said the families of the bride and groom had decided to have the marriage at the protest venue to express their solidarity with the ongoing anti-CAA protests.
The marriage was conducted as per Islamic tradition. The groom gave a 25g gold chain as ‘Mahr’, a customary offering to the bride. Representatives said the marriage was held in a simple way, in which all Islamic marriages should ideally be held.
On Monday, Shahin Shah and Sumayya had got married at the anti-CAA protest venue at Old Washermanpet in Chennai.