Woman dies after heart attack during protest at Kolkata's Shaheen Bagh
Kolkata: A protester at Kolkata's Park Circus Maidan that is being dubbed as the city's Shaheen Bagh, died on Saturday night after suffering from a heart attack during her protest against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR).
The woman, identified as Sameeda Khatoon (57), was a resident of Entally and is survived by her husband and eight children.
"She (Sameeda) used to come regularly to the ongoing protest at Park Circus Maidan. She used to leave the protest venue after dinner at mid-night every day. She was an asthmatic patient. On Saturday night, she was with us at the protest venue and her health deteriorated. At around 12. 10 am she complaint of breathing problem. We immediately rushed her to Calcutta National Medical College and Hospitals and the doctors told that she suffered a cardiac arrest. We later took her to Islamia Hospital where doctors declared her brought dead," said 45-year-old homemaker Asmat Jamil, organiser of ongoing 'Swadhinata Andolan 2.0' (freedom movement 2.0) at the Park Circus Maidan.
Demanding revocation of the contentious CAA-NRC-NPR legislations, Swadhinata Andolan 2.0 started with 60 women at the Park Circus Maidan on January 7.
The 24-hour vigil against the Centre's "discriminatory" policies, started two days after the JNU violence, gained momentum. Women from different parts of the city are now joining the protest.
"We express our sympathy for the bereaved family members and pledge to carry the movement in which she (Sameeda) was actively involved against NRC-NPR-CAA to the end. We organised a two-minute mourning session for martyr (Sameeda) at 5 pm on Sunday. This apart, we are also wearing a black badge. From Park Circus Maidan, we want to give a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that our protest will continue until CAA is withdrawn," said Sambhu Shaw, volunteer of 'Swadhinata Andolan 2.0'.
While the controversial act was passed by both Houses of Parliament in December 2019, it seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who are facing religious persecution there.
The Supreme Court, after hearing on the petitions challenging CAA in January, said it won't pass any ex-parte order before hearing the Centre on staying the operation of CAA and NPR. The apex court granted the Centre four weeks to file a comprehensive response.
