People all over the country are protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and students have come to the fore of the movement taking charge and leading the struggle against the fascist Act.
But last week, youngsters too expressed their solidarity with the minorities and the marginalized, when at a Christmas carol service in Marthoma Church, in Kozhencherry, Kerala, they came wearing Islamic attire to stand by protestors fighting against the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Six youth wearing Muslim attire – skull caps; and eight girls wearing the hijab participated in the carol service.
Speaking to the Deccan Herald, Father Daniel T Philip of the church said that Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem as refugees and even Jesus Christ had to be a refugee. “Theology should always be contextual. Hence the carol song was composed based on a theme to express solidarity with the refugees,” he stated saying that no one at the parish expressed displeasure about the decision.
This is India, no one can stop the unity of our religions. Please see how these youngsters appeared in their X'mas carol service in solidarity with Indian Muslims and protest against CAA&NRC. This was part of their Christmas carol service in Marthoma Church, Kozhenchery, Kerala. pic.twitter.com/CQjHb4GULn
— Jijoy (@jijoy_matt) December 25, 2019
While some did suggest that it would have been better if the dress code had a mixture of all religions, the gesture and the stand taken by the church was appreciated by many.
MP for Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor took a dig at the Prime Minister’s comments about identifying protestors from their clothes in a tweet. He said –
Ah yes — “you can tell who themy are from their clothes “! https://t.co/BQArDRy2hr
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 25, 2019
The video posted by @jijoy_matt has garnered over 70,000 views, over 2,000 likes and has been re-tweeted around 900 times by tweeple all over India. Though this isn’t the first time that members of different religious communities have expressed solidarity for one another, the current step by the church comes as a huge support for the minorities who are set to be affected gravely if the CAA and NRC are implemented nationwide. It is a welcome step towards solidarity, especially when the minorities fear being left ‘stateless’ by the CAA.
Kerala has been very vocal in its refusal to toe the line and ply with the Centre for the implementation of the Act and the NRC. There have been massive rallies throughout the State condemning the government’s decision to impose the same on the citizens of the country.
