New Delhi: Mannat is just one-year-old, with anti CAA bandage on her forehead , the baby is seen holding a packet of kurkure in her hands as she clings in the arms of her aunt.
Tamanna brings Mannat daily to the protest site at Jamia. She is not alone, if you stroll on the roads of the Jamia Millia and Shaheen Bagh you will find several mothers who are bringing their toddlers and even infants to the protest site unfazed by the harsh weather conditions and possible risk of police action to move the protesters.
"What's wrong in bringing the babies here. Let her see the protest. When she grows up, we would tell her she was there in our lap when we stood for what is right. We are not scared and want to teach our children to stand for the truth, come whatever may," Tamanna said as she holds Mannat with one hand.
Shagufta, an Abul Fazal resident sits in the front row in Jamia Millia protest holding her four-year-old son who has fallen asleep in her lap. The placard which shows a sketch of Jamia Student Ayesha Renna, stopping a Delhi policeman rests on the toddler.
"I bring Jawwad, my four-year-old son daily to the protest. I complete any household work early and take out time to be a part of the protest. We know the importance of it and our children need to see it that their mother was on the right side of history," said Shagufta.
A man is seen walking with her 1-year-old child on his shoulders as the baby holds on the tiranga baloon tightly with her hands. Another man is seen guiding his toddler as she walks on the Jamia road where street paintings denouncing CAA and NRC are made.
"It was easy for us to keep our children at home, but when the mother and the father are a part of the protest, the child needs to learn to walk alongside and hence we bring the kid with us," said Khalid, a resident of Shaheen Bagh.