Now, marriages, photo-shoots & xmas festivities turn anti-CAA protest venues in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 23: Not just open streets and college campuses, but even marriages, pre-wedding photo-shoots and Christmas festivities seem to be turning into protest venues against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Kerala.
Cutting across religion, youths from various parts of the state have posted their wedding photos, in which the bride and groom hold placards saying 'No CAA.. No NRC" at the marriage venues, on social media, all of which have gone viral.
In some viral videos, brides and grooms walk to the reception venue holding placards criticising the CAA, while in others, they are initiated into the hall by their friends raising slogans against the Act and expressing solidarity with those protesting against it across the country.
In one video, a beautiful bride, wearing a richly decorated red lehenga, holds an anti-CAA placard in one hand while walking hand-in-hand with the groom through a busy road.
Their friends raise slogans against the CAA and walk behind them.
Huge posters, usually erected by friends to greet the newly-wed couple in villages, have also become a space for anti-CAA slogans.
A poster with photos of a couple appeared in politically volatile Kannur district recently and read "India will not budge...we will not be silent".
In one of the photos, which has gone viral, a Hindu groom wearing a Muslim skull cap walks along with the bride, apparently as a mark of protest against Prime Minister Modi's controversial remarks that those indulging in arson can be identified by their clothes.
Arun Gopi and Asha Shekhar, who recently shot their 'save-the-date' photos, holding placards against CAA and NRC, said they wanted to send a message through the innovative idea.
'Save-the-date' is a practice among youth to announce the wedding date.
The couple, who will tie the knot on January 30, said they decided to make the pre-wedding photos a political statement and so came out with photos with anti-CAA messages.
The photos were an instant hit on the social media.
A group of students of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam recently organised their annual Christmas celebrations on the campus in a different way-with Santa Clauses carrying placards and posters against CAA and holding the photos of national leaders like Gandhiji and Ambedkar.
Kerala wedding couples holding anti NRC / CAA banner @wedding ceremony
— SIRAJ KATTUKULAM (@sirajdolphin) December 22, 2019
If Keralaites decided to protect,
No Samghi can do anything @CMOKerala pic.twitter.com/21EVdnQ9Ii
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Three dead after drinking country liquor in Meerut, police initiate probe
Meerut (UP) (PTI): Three people died under suspicious circumstances after consuming country liquor in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Preliminary probe has not confirmed if they died due to the quality of alcohol, officials said on Saturday.
All three vomited and had abdominal pain after drinking the liquor on Friday evening and were rushed to a hospital where they were declared dead. A post-mortem will determine the exact cause of death, they said.
According to the police, Baburam (60), a grocery shop owner, Jitendra (35), who worked at his shop and Ankit alias Daulat (40), purchased liquor in the evening from a government-authorised country liquor outlet and began drinking at the spot.
Shortly after drinking the liquor, the health of all three deteriorated, and they began complaining of vomiting and abdominal pain.
The three were rushed to a private hospital, where doctors declared Jitendra and Ankit dead, while Baburam passed away during treatment.
Additional Director General (ADG) of Police for the Meerut Zone, Bhanu Bhaskar, District Magistrate VK Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Avinash Pandey, and District Excise Officer Pradeep Kumar reached the spot and initiated an investigation.
SSP Avinash Pandey said that preliminary investigations have not confirmed whether the liquor was "toxic or expired". The bottling date was found to be February 11, 2026, and other bottles from the same batch received no such complaints.
He added that a post-mortem will determine the exact cause of death. Personnel from the Health, Forensic, Surveillance, and Intelligence teams have been constituted to investigate the matter.
Following the incident, the family members created a ruckus at the hospital. Police said further action would be taken based on the findings of the investigation.
