A protest called by the students of Jamia Milia Islamia, (one of the premier educational institutions of the country) on 15th December, Sunday, against the Citizenship Amendment Bill passed by the Narendra Modi government took a violent turn as Delhi Police cracked down on the protestors by lobbing tear gas shells. JMI students were marching towards the Parliament as part of the protest, when the police entered the campus forcibly and fired at innocent bystanders and students who were studying at the university library and were not part of the protest outside. The police even entered the mosque on campus and hurt a local cleric. Jamia Millia Islamia Chief Proctor Waseem Ahmed Khan claimed on Sunday that Delhi Police personnel entered the university by force without any permission and beat up staff members and students who were forced to leave the campus. VC Najma Akhtar told TOI: “No permission was taken (to enter the campus). Those students who were in the library were rescued and are safe.” The university had previously issued a statement that the protest was organised by people of nearby areas and not by the students of Jamia. In fact a large number of students staying in the hostel had already left after the semester examinations were postponed and winter vacations were declared.
While the police claims that students were involved in burning down 3 buses near Jamia Nagar (where the protest was being held), the Jamia Students Union and Administration issued a statement saying that “No Jamia student is involved in the violence happening on the streets of Delhi. These are fringe inciting violence in the garb of Jamia students.” Jamia students also claimed that they were conducting a peaceful protest, which was suddenly suffered an intrusion by local residents of the area.
Around 100 students were detained following the violence, although university authorities said that the students did not take part in the burning of vehicles. Students were also told to keep their hands raised as police evacuated the JMI university. A video showing police beating a group of students was widely shared on social media.
A day after this brutal police crackdown, students from universities across the country have come down in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, and the government’s draconian efforts to quell the agitation against it. Students of Delhi University, Aligarh University, Lucknow’s Nadwa College, Hyderabad’s Maulana Azad Urdu University, Banaras Hindu University, Mumbai University, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Jadavpur University in Kolkata and a few other state universities broke down in protest a day after the police atrocities in JMI.
Protest schedule :
Bangalore :
17th December
Mysore Bank Circle, 11 A.M.
NGMA - 11:45 A.M.
Mount Carmel college - 12:00 P.M.
Bhopal:
17th December
Iqbal Maidan - 5 P.M.
Ahmedabad :
17th December
Sabarmati Ashram - 5 P.M.
New Delhi :
19th December
Lal Quila (Red Fort) to Shaheed Park - 11 A.M.
Mumbai :
19th December
Ambassador Hotel, Marine Drive, 2 P.M.
August Kranti Maidan - 3 P.M.
Lucknow:
19th December
Parivartan Chowk - 2 P.M.
Latur :
19th December
Townhall - 10 A.M.
New York City :
18th December
Outside the Indian Consulate,3 East 64th St. - 5 P.M.
London :
18th December
Indian High Commission, Aldwych - 5 P.M.
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