Shaheen Bagh Women’s Silent Protest Speaks Louder Than Words

Women have had a long history of leading protests with Shaheen Bagh being the latest.

Women have driven revolution for centuries.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Video Editor: Vishal Kumar

Delhi's Shaheen Bagh has been creating headlines, because of its now-famous women.

The women of Shaheen Bagh have become eponymous with the very name of the place as they steadfastly oppose the CAA, NPR and NRC. They ask why laws are being made without the consent of the citizens. With this question, thousands have been protesting for the last month.

Interestingly, most of them are not activists. They aren’t workers. They’re not spinning magic with words. They are protesting silently. This silence, however, should be taken as an even more powerful message to the powers that be, that something is wrong.

Those in power always claim that the atmosphere is normal. The power to make this claim has been taken from them not by speaking, but by sitting quietly. 80 percent of these women are housewives. The women are drawing strength from their community. They are also taking the risk of offending a powerful group but they don't pay much heed.

With this silent protest, they are saying that they’re here and with their Muslim characteristics and their Hindu characteristics, they will continue being here.

The Proud Tradition of Women’s Protests

The women of Shaheen Bagh are not alone in this, and are now part of a proud tradition of groundbreaking protests by women.

Over the years, women have protested in many ways, and they have done so in every corner of the world. They have done it in the thousands and the millions.

FRANCE: THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Let's start with the French Revolution

In 1789, the seeds of the French Revolution were planted by the protests of women. In those days, the price of bread was skyrocketing.  People were dying of starvation.  Then about 7,000 women gathered in Paris – they occupied the city hall and demanded that the grain stores be opened for the common people.

But the State, being the State, didn't budge.  After this, these protesting women decided they would make a direct request to King Louis XVI.

The women reached Palace of Versailles by walking 12 miles. A delegation met the king but the king did not ask for their demands. The protests became violent and the king had to leave the palace and return to Paris.

These women shook the foundations of royalty, and it was their lead that was followed in the French Revolution.

UNITED KINGDOM: WOMEN’S SUNDAY

Now, a different protest, from United Kingdom.

Women did not automatically get voting rights, even in the home of parliamentary democracy. For this, they had to struggle a lot.

In 1908, the Women's Social and Political Union of the United Kingdom made several public protests. Nearly two and a half million women gathered in a demonstration called Women's Sunday. It was the biggest agitation in British history.

SOUTH AFRICA: ANTI-APARTHEID

The third protest is from South Africa. Before their strong opposition to the Citizenship Act in India, it was women who inspired the fight against the white government's apartheid law in South Africa. These laws placed restrictions on the movement of black people, where they could go, where they could live,and on various other aspects of their lives.

On 9 August 1956, about 20,000 marched to the Union Buildings of Pretoria. The leaders wanted to submit a petition to the prime minister. The prime minister was not present there. So, they submitted a petition to his secretary then stood in silence on the road for half an hour and then chanted for their demands.

There were protests before and after this. In a demonstration, the police brutally opened fire. This law was repealed in 1986 after nearly 30 years.

USA: THE WOMEN’S STRIKE FOR EQUALITY

The fourth protest is from the US. Women gathered on 26 August 1970, 50 years after the right to vote was first granted to them in the US to fight the next big battle for women’s rights.

About 50,000 women demonstrated for the right to equality at 5th Avenue in New York. It was named the 'Women's Strike for Equality'.

This was basically a protest against wage inequality between men and women, but there were more complex undercurrents to this issue. The women were angry that they had to spend so much time doing domestic work that they did not get time for leisure, and all this on top of jobs which paid them less than men for the same work.

The Strike was organized by the National Organization for Women as a show of women's power. They wanted to talk about how every industry, union, army, university,  government, was dominated by men.

Two years later, the Federal Law ‘Title IX’ was passed, stating that there would be no discrimination in programs on the basis of gender.

IRELAND: AGAINST THE CIVIL WAR

The fifth protest is from Ireland.

Women have held big demonstrations in Ireland several times to establish peace. Thousands hit the streets to end the Civil War in Ireland in 1976.

As a result of these demonstrations, peace was established in the country.

USA: WOMEN’S MARCH

The sixth protest is also from the US. Its ripples were felt all over the world, including India. Around 50 lakh women protested in January 2017 after Donald Trump was elected as the president of US. The issue was Trump's anti-women statements and it was the biggest protest in the history of the US.

After this, around 261 small demonstrations were also held in countries across the world. Protests against the sexual exploitation of women erupted during the #MeToo movement in 85 countries – including India.

The women of Shaheen Bagh have come a long way and their journey continues. The end is not known.

But, Shaheen Bagh is trying to make the impossible, possible.