White is the new black: How anti-CAA protesters beat Wankhede ban

As opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act CAA continues to spread students found a new way to protest On Tuesday a group of 20 youngsters raised their voice against the CAA the National Register of Citizens NRC and the National Population Register NPR through messages on their Tshirts at the IndiaAustralia ODI at the WankhedeThey each wore a tshirt with a letter of the alphabet Even as posters etc were confiscated at the stadium and a spectator tweeted about his black cap also being disallowed they managed to give out their message As they cheered for India they stood in perfect order to spell out No CAA No NPR and No NRCMumbais students decided to take their CAA protest to the game they love The nature of the constitutional crisis the CAA poses demands bigger and larger audiences something like the IndiaAustralia cricket match offers It was essential that the spectators and cricket lovers the world over know what kind of human rights crisis India is facing said Fahad Ahmad a PhD student at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences who is playing a pivotal role in mobilising youngsters against CAAPosters confiscated at the ground PicHarit N JoshiConstitution sacredHe added CAA is unconstitutional as it chooses people for citizenship based on their religion Similarly the NPR and NRC are antipoor and antiminorities and designed to delegitimise certain communities in the country The Indian youths patience has run out over this fascist BJP government and we will not allow such nefarious plans to succeedWe love our country and its Constitution as was envisaged by Dr BR Ambedkar That Constitution is not negotiable We want the prime minister to just meet the youngsters once to understand what we want to say We think our PM who supports sports might see us during the match and call us for discussion The former general secretary of the TISS Students Union also said For once we firmly believe sports and politics cannot be separateBut not everyone was of the opinion As a spectator at the match said Around the 25th over some spectators removed their shirts and started chanting slogans They were students and seemed least interested in watching the match They disturbed the environment in the stand After a while a security guard checked on them and then they were asked to wear their shirts back They left before the Indian innings was completed In the stand next to the protesting students a group of people were also chanting Modi Modi in support of the PMWas black bannedThe Mumbai Cricket Association MCA swung into action later on Tuesday after a tweet regarding a ban on black tshirts and caps as a mark of protest regarding CAA at the stadium went viral While MCA officials and the Mumbai police denied any such ban on the colour posters and placards were disallowed into the stadium A top Mumbai police official categorically denied giving any instruction regarding banning black tshirts and caps We havent stopped any spectators wearing black You can see there are many spectators wearing black clothes the top cop told middayWhen informed about the tweet the top cop said We havent received any such complaint There is private security involved as well If there is anything objectionable only then will the spectator not be allowedRahul Desai a columnist who tweeted about his black cap being confiscated said the incident happened at Gate No 5 around noon It was a silly thing to do because it only made people ask more questions Desai told middayPosters were seizedPosters however were confiscated It was a precautionary measure to not allow any spectators with posters placards or flex banners The decision was taken to maintain law and order a top MCA official said The official said no decision to ban the colour black was taken But he said not allowing posters was advised by the policeCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates