A sit-and-draw for children in Bedford Lane, a central Calcutta locality with significant Muslim presence, brought to the fore the apprehensions of the people. The participants at the event, organised by Ward 61 Trinamul councillor Manzar Iqbal, were not given any theme but many drew the national flag and Mahatma Gandhi. Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act found expression in their artworks.The paintings embodied the spirit of the young trying to voice dissent and assert their identity. Jhinuk Mazumdar of The Telegraph spoke to some of the children

Amaan Ali Khan drew a protest scene, something he now sees often

Class IV student Daraksha Parveen drew a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi and wrote about him. “He is the father of the nation,” she said

Ananya Das’s message was to “save the girl child”. The Class VI student wrote messages (see right) against dowry and child marriage and wanted girls to be given wings to fly

Riya Sahu’s painting was of a girl going from 2019 to 2020. “It’s the transition from the night of December 31 to the dawn of January 1. A new day,” explained the Class IV student

The mood has changed at home

Nisha Parveen, 11, had been practising drawing a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi over the past few days. That’s what she drew on Wednesday, along with a Tricolour.

When Metro asked Nisha about her drawing, the Class V student said: “This is for my country.”

Nisha is one of five siblings who live in a one-room house off Elliot Road with their parents. Lately, the discussion at home has only been about “papers and documents”.

“My father looks tense most of the time, my mother is always worried. All they talk about now is where we will find the documents. My mother says ‘what kind of torture is this?’. She says ‘where will we go?…” Nisha said.

The child perhaps does not realise what is keeping her parents awake most nights, but what bothers her is that the atmosphere at home has changed.

Protests a familiar sight outside

A protest march, where most of the participants are women in hijab, is what Amaan Ali Khan drew.

“This is what I see around me now. I have seen protests where people were walking with placards or posters and at times also shouting slogans,” the 11-year-old said.

One of the protesters in Amaan’s drawing holds up a placard that reads : “CAB 2020 nahin…. Shiksha chahiye (No CAB 2020/ We want education)”.

The Class VI boy said he wanted to draw “something that is current”. “When I asked my mother, she said I could draw this.”

Meenu Khan

Mohammed Nazruddin

Nisha’s father, Mohammed Nazruddin, runs a canteen in a school. “We have Aadhaar cards but the names of some of my children have been misspelt in their cards. We had stood in a queue for hours to get the Aadhaar cards but now some people are saying it is not enough,” he said. “I don’t know what papers we will have to produce. I have three sons and two daughters but I don’t have birth certificates for all of them. Not everybody was born in hospital, some were born at home.”

Amaan’s mother, Meenu Khan, said what her son drew was a reflection of what was happening in the country and the “insecurity” and uncertainty faced by a section of people. “I didn’t force him to draw this… he is aware of what is happening because there is discussion in the locality, it’s there on news channels and in newspapers and we cannot keep him away from all of it. My younger son is eight and he still does not understand all this and he drew a scenery,” she said.

Khan runs a boutique, where she has been facing a barrage of questions she had never faced before. “There would never be any talk of Hindus and Muslims before but we are now speaking like that. Why is it so? she asked.