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The chaos at Jamia Millia University on Sunday, 15 December, has sent ripples throughout the country, with students protesting against the incident and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Aligarh, Varanasi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Kerala.
Hundreds of students reached the old Delhi Police headquarters at ITO late on Sunday night to take part in an “emergency” protest in response to the police action at Jamia’s campus.
More than 100 people, including students, policemen and firefighters were injured, after cops threw teargas shells inside the college campus, forced their way in, and reportedly dragged students out of the library and the mosque, and assaulted them.
As innumerable students joined the protests, many took to Twitter to condemn the police action and offered their solidarity with the students.
Protests at Delhi University’s Arts Faculty on Monday, 16 December, turned unruly when students alleged ABVP students beat them with lathis as the police did nothing to help them.
1. Aligarh Muslim University (AMU)
There were violent protests at the Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh on Sunday, leaving about 60 injured.
The students alleged that to protest, they broke open the main gate as they were not being allowed outside. Following which, the students broke the police cordon and fought pitched battles with the forces.
2. Banaras Hindu University (BHU)
Banaras Hindu University (BHU) on Monday joined the protests, with the university’s Joint Action Committee announcing a protest gathering and a mashaal juloos at 5 pm, declaring solidarity with the students of Jamia and AMU who had been protesting against the CAA.
“About 60 students are being treated at Nehru Medical College Hospital and most of them are with trauma and eye injuries caused by tear gas,” Chief Medical Officer Dr Nisar Ahmad said.
One of the University students, Areeb Uddin, told The Quint, “Around seven-eight students hid in the guest house, scared for their lives, while the police attempted to break in. Shortly after, the police entered the boys’ rooms and fired tear gas shells.”
“The University is closed from 15 December 2019 to 5 January 2020. This is being done due to disturbances created by some anti-social elements for last three days,” said Abdul Hamid, the Registrar.
3. Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad
Students of the Hyderabad-based Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) on Monday boycotted their exams and held protests against the police action on their counterparts in Jamia University in Delhi.
Protests had erupted at the university campus on Sunday night, which continued beyond midnight with several students raising slogans against the central government.
The students unions gave a call to boycott various exams scheduled from Monday, a MANUU official said, according to PTI.
Students of the University expressed their anger by setting effigies of government ministers on fire. They also demanded that their exams be postponed.
Earlier on Sunday, thousands of people protested against CAA at Indira Park in the city. “A dharna was staged under the leadership of different organisations against the Citizenship Amendment Act,” a protester said.
3. TISS, IIT in Mumbai
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai also joined the protests late at night on Sunday, against the ‘atrocities meted out to Jamia students, AMU students, and universities in Northeast.’
TISS students stated that they have decided to boycott all classes on Monday, including field work. They further said that they will decide on future course of action.
4. Bangalore
One hundred and seventy two students, staff, and faculty at IIM Bangalore have written an open letter to Prime Minister protesting against the repression of students protesting CAA.
The letter states, “We call upon you to not trample the democratic rights of citizens to peacefully protest an unjust law. Non-violent civil disobedience is at the heart of our republic's founding. We urge you to ensure that students can protest peacefully, and that violence is not incited by anyone including custodians of state in positions of great authority and responsibility.”
Students at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, joined the protest across campuses in the country on Monday against the police crackdown in Jamia and AMU.
A poster issued by IISc students read: “Call for a protest gathering at the public university most dear to successive Indian governments of the country.”
"We refuse to work when we no longer know what we are working for. To work in this climate for a government that not only threatens us with de-citizenship but also dehumanises us when we try to raise our voice, is to submit ourselves to enslavement," a student leading the protest said, according to PTI.
5. Kolkata
Protests over the amended Citizenship Act continued in Bengal for the fourth consecutive day on Monday, with incidents of road and rail blockades reported from various parts of the state, officials said.
In East Midnapore and Murshidabad districts, the agitators blocked thoroughfares since morning, inconveniencing hundreds of commuters, they said.
Railway services blocked in Howrah’s Amta as protests against CAA continue in several parts of the state.
A spokesperson for the railways said demonstrators had blocked the tracks in Sealdah-Diamond Harbour and Sealdah-Namkhana sectors.
Internet services remained suspended in six districts of state – Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and parts of South 24 Parganas districts – where agitation over the amended Act have brought life to a halt.
On Sunday night, the officer in-charge of Uluberia police station, along with a few other police personnel, sustained injuries after they were attacked by the agitators.
They had to be admitted to a nearby hospital, district officials said.
Meanwhile, on Monday morning, protests broke out at Islamic seminary Nadwatul Ulama and Integral University in Lucknow.
The students shouted slogans in support of Jamia and Aligarh universities. However, the police prevented them from coming out of the campus.
6. Bihar
Kanhaiya Kumar, the CPI leader and former JNU Students' Union government on the Citizenship law and the NRC, stated, “If you do not consider us citizens, we do not consider you the government.”
In a massive rally in Purnea, Bihar on 16 December, he said, “You may well have majority in Parliament; we have the majority on the street. This fight is not about Hindus or Muslim..we do not want a country of (VD) Savarkar but of Bhagat Singh and Babasaheb Ambedkar. They want Ashfaq and Bismil to fight, (but) we will not let that happen.”
Talking about the police action against protesters against JMI, AMU students on Friday, he said when the police use teargas on students, students from across the country need to stay united, but protest peacefully and tell the government that NRC is not needed.
7. Kerala
The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) also organised a statewide protest march on Sunday night in Thiruvananthapuram against the police action on the students of Jamia and AMU.
The Thiruvananthapuram district committee of the DYFI took out a protest march to Raj Bhavan, where the protesters tried to break a police barricades while raising slogans in support of the students of the two universities.
Police used water cannons to disperse the protesters. Activists of the youth wing of the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala stopped the train service at Kozhikode.
“Nearly 75 activists took out a protest march to the railway station,” a city police official told PTI.
In Kolkata, protests are likely to happen at around 1:30 pm at the Jadavpur University campus.
Meanwhile, as many as 50 students, who were detained during protests at the Jamia university, were released in the early hours of Monday after the Delhi Minorities Commission directed the SHO of Kalkaji police station to do the same.
8. Chennai
Many colleges in Chennai also took to protesting on Monday, with Mohammed Sathak College and Loyola College being among the first to join. Students of Loyola College protested against the Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC.
SFI also held protests on Monday. After IIT Madras and Bombay protested, IIT Kanpur also joined the bandwagon.
“They struck down the students’ retaliation at Jadavpur University. We didn’t respond. They hiked the MTech fee, we didn’t respond. Manhandled the student protesters at JNU, we didn’t respond. And now it’s JMI and AMU. Our commitment towards the students’ community is under huge jeopardy if we don’t respond now,” a poster by students from IIT Kanpur read.
Meanwhile, other colleges which joined the club are National Law University, Delhi and Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), who expressed their solidarity with JMI, AMU students on Monday.
Students of Tiruvallur University had also staged a protest outside the college and raised slogans against CAA and police brutality. They even burned effigies of Amit Shah and Modi.
(With inputs from PTI)
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