Wokeness has resulted in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NCR) that have taken the country by storm. Art, music, verse, prose and more have been employed to catch eyeballs and register the protests. And leading the way are couples in Kerala who made sure that their wedding also became event to ensure that their resistance to the CAA and NCR was loud and clear to all.
While Asha Sekhar and Arungopi from Thiruvananthapuram held placards saying ‘No CAA’ and ‘No NRC’ along with their photographs during a pre-wedding shot, many couples in Malabar who tied the knot made the photography sessions an occasion to announce their opposition to the CAA and NRC.
When college lecturer Sachin S L, an active political worker and social worker, married Sneha N Murthy, a radio jockey, he saw to it that the event in Vadakara also became a venue to proclaim their opposition to the CAA and NRC. “I have always been active in organising meetings and protests against moves that I feel are not for the betterment of our democracy. However, when the entire country was witnessing protests against the CAA, I was busy with preparations for my wedding. That is when I discussed the matter with Sneha and decided to go in for a photo shoot to make more people aware about this. Afterwards, I learnt that there were more couples like us who also made their wedding an opportunity to air their dissent about the CAA and NRC,” says Sachin.
He adds that it was his friends who got the placards and the signboards ready, while Sneha recalls that their friends and relatives were surprised when suddenly many of their friends turned up for a photo shoot along with signboards and placards. “Then they all started clapping their hands,” she adds.
Prasanth Muthu and Vismaya, both active political workers in Thalassery, also carried signboards that declared their opposition.
“It was all done in a hurry with handwritten signboards made by my friends. I felt that no opportunity must be wasted to register our angst,” he says.
In the meantime, the St Thomas Mar Thomas Church, Kozhencherry, came up with a novel idea to make a statement about their views. Reverend Varughese Philip, Vicar of the Church, says the theme of their Christmas celebrations was “celebrating refugees.”
“Every year, our celebrations are based around a theme. Last year, we focussed on the flood that ravaged the State. This year, we decided to highlight the issues of refugees. So, all programmes were based on that theme. We composed songs for the occasion and our youth choir came up with a number composed on the lines of a mappila pattu. It was to express our empathy with our Muslim brethren,” he explains. The photo of the choir with the women in hijab and the men in caps went viral.
