Sparked by police violence in Delhi's Jamia University, students across India erupt in protest
Students now join the protests sweeping India related to the Citizenship Act amendment.
Late on Sunday, as news of a brutal police crackdown on the Jamia Milia Islamia campus spread across the country, universities across the country joined in solidarity with Jamia. The Jamia fracas was sparked off by widespread protests against the Citizenship Act amendment passed by Parliament on Wednesday.
First off the blocks was Aligarh Muslim University, which saw students gather at the university gate and shout slogans. This soon descended into clashes between the protesting students and the police. The Wire reported that more a 100 students were injured, with the police blocking ambulances from going inside the university and helping the wounded students.
However, soon other students hit the streets in protest. A large protest broke out in Hyderabad’s Maulana Azad Urdu University. “Shame on the Delhi Police,” was one slogan used by the students.
The students of the Tata Insitute of Social Sciences in Mumbai took out a candle light march singing the Raj-era Urdu poem “Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna” written by Bismil Azimabadi and made famous by association with the revolutionaries such as Bhagat Singh who fought the British Empire.
In Bihar, where the ruling Janata Dal (United) and Bharatiya Janata Party colaition had both supported the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Parliament, protests by Patna Univeristy student saw clashes with the police, reported the Print.
In Kolkata, NDTV reported that students of Jadavpur University took our a march at around midnight in solidarity with Jamia. In the city, Aliah University also mobilised in support.
In Varanasi, student of the Benaras Hindu University took out a processin in support of Jamia students, reported Newsd. Scroll.in was able to access a video of the protest asking to “take back the communal Citizenship Act amendment”.
More than 2,000 kilometres away in Pondicherry, the students of Pondicherry Univerity also protested the Delhi police violence in Jamia.
In Lucknow, students of the Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama marched through the city, reported the Times of India’s Yusra Hussain.
IIT Bombay also joined in, marching with torches and bearing placards which read, “In solidarity with Jamia”.
This comes a full circle as the first protests against the Citizenship Act amendment were sparked off by students in Assam, who took out large torch rallies to oppose the legislation.