Pani mere nainan me, jitna wator canon me: Creative slogans, posters at anti-CAA protests

From "pani mere nainan me, jitna wator canon me" to "section 144 tumhara, article 14 hamara", it was creative slogans galore at various anti-CAA protests in the national capital on Thursday.

"Keep dividing, we will keep multiplying", "Asking questions is not anarchy, abusing power is", "bol ke lab azad hain tere" (speak up you have the freedom to) and "Janta mange rozi roti, milti unko lathi gali" (public want employment but they get batons and abuses) echoed the protest-sites at Jantar Mantar and areas near the Red Fort and Mandi House.

Mocking the use of water canons by police on protesters in recent weeks, the agitators shouted "pani mere nainan me, jitna wator canon me" (as much water in my eyes as much in your water canons).

"I wrote this slogan to convey that students and the youth are not scared of anything when struggling to preserve their ideals and raising their voice for what is right," said Mayank Tondon, who works with a waste management company.

People protesting against the newly amended Citizenship Act also raised slogans appealing to policemen on duty to join their protest: "Lathi chodo, sath chalo" (leave the batons, come with us).

Large parts of Delhi crawled under restrictions on mobile internet services and traffic movement. Hundreds of students, activists and opposition leaders were detained when they defied prohibitory orders to protest against the amended law. Permission for holding any demonstration in the two sites was not granted.

Many flag-waving students and activists converged near the historic Jantar Mantar in the afternoon to voice their anger against the contentious law after police forcefully evicted protesters from areas around the Red Fort and Mandi House.

The protestors also outpoured their creativity through posters. "When injustice becomes law, resistance become duty", "kursi to tum jeet gaye par hindustan maar diya" (you may have won the position but have ruined the country", "save constitution, save the country" and "no internet in digital India", they wrote on multiple posters.

The office of the JDU, an ally of BJP, at Jantar Mantar also became a target of the protesters' ire who defaced Nitish Kumar's poster and pasted a slogan saying "Nitish on sale".

The JDU has supported the CAA and opposed NRC even as a fraction of party leaders have asked JD(U) chief Kumar to reconsider his decision.