Women chanting 'Azaadi' slogan near Iconic Albert Hall in Jaipur during anti-CAA protest

"Aazadi, aazaadi... hum cheen ke lenge aazaadi... NRC se aazaadi..." chanted Muslim women, protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) outside the Iconic Albert Hall of Jaipur.

Braving the cold wind and heads covered, the women stood out in protest boldly against the beautifully lit historic Albert Hall Museum.

Extending their solidarity to protests in New Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, men, women and youth from all walks of life gather every evening outside this landmark building holding anti-CAA placards. Slogans of “Hum kya chaahte, aazaadi”, “Inquilab zindabad” and “Samvidhan bachao” reverberate at the protest which entered the 15th day on Friday.

Around 200-400 protesters start their protest at 5:30 pm by chanting anti-CAA slogans, followed by human chain formation, and singing of patriotic songs. The protest ends at sharp 7.30 pm with them reading the preamble, said Shama Parveen, General Secretary of Jamat Islami Hind, who has been a regular at the protests.

“I have joined the protest because I don't think there is any need to show our papers as demanded by the BJP government. We don't need to prove our nationality to them". "Watan bhi hamara hai, mazhab bhi hamara hai, na islam chodenge, na hindustan (Country, as well as religion, is ours, we will neither leave India nor Islam)," Shama added.

Another protester, 18-year-old Khushnama, who is agitating for the first time told DH: "Every evening I and my mother look forward to joining this protest. I finish my studies by 6 pm and my mother finishes her household chores too. Then we together proceed for the protest. We will keep protesting unless the law is taken back".

Protest poetry

This unique protest catches the attention of foreigners and passers-by as it turns musical and poetic. Jaipur's noted poet Mohammad Hasan has penned down a poem 'Detention Centre', as a mark of his protest against CAA. "My wife listens a tearful stranger/ An unusual beggar in tatters / His story from a far off detention centre /Wide moist eyes tell about people of three generations, merrily herded and graded like animals / Becoming soon declassified citizens".

Hasan, a former professor of Geography believes that it's his moral duty to protest against the draconian law and to express his anger he chose poetry. "In the twilight of crudely hewed 'court' procedures. / Hoodlums play games of revenge and fanatic fancy, enjoying unvarnished blessings of their clan deities / Facts are not matched with history. / Everything is done hurriedly / Like cattle loading, unloading in moving lories / Like firefighters throw things out from burning buildings," M Hasan recited another verse from the poem he wrote two weeks ago.