One minute read. Written by a grade 8 student.

A peaceful, sit-in protest is taking place against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and police brutality – and also against the attack on students of Jamia Milia University by the police. This protest, which is largely led by women, is happening at Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi. It started on the 15^th of December 2019 and is still gong on, making it the longest ongoing continuous protest against CAA.

The protesters have blocked a major highway in New Delhi (near Jamia Nagar) and thus one of the mains roads in the capital (near Kalindi Kunj) has been closed. It has led to terrible traffic jams in the area (and also surrounding areas). Lakhs of people have joined this protest over the past month. There are women as old as 80 and 90 who are protesting, because they don’t believe in the Act.

What is the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)?

The CAA is an Act that was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019.It gives an opportunity for people from six religions to apply for Indian citizenship – the people who had had fled (run away from) persecution (bad treatment) from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before December 2014 area allowed to apply. These regions are – Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian communities. Muslims are not included in this list. There have been protests around the country against this Act.

When will the protest end?

No one can say.  Some people have filed petitions (applications) in the court to stop the blocking of the roads – since many shops etc near the area losing money and school children are spending hours on the road because of the closure and the ripple effect on the traffic. The blocked road affects more than 100,000 vehicles a day. Journeys that should take half an hour are taking 2 to 3 hours. Till now the Delhi High Court has not heard this matter in court.

Delhi police is trying to persuade the protesters to return home and stop the blockade, but this has not worked.