Protests across campuses.

Protests spread across campuses as students stand in solidarity with Jamia

Students of 19 US univs, including Harvard, stand with Jamia, AMU

Agency Report | Aligarh/Lucknow/Hyderabad/Chennai/Bengaluru/Puducherry | 16 December, 2019 | 11:20 PM

Following the action by the Delhi Police against the students of Jamia Millia Islamia on Sunday night when the police entered the university campus and attacked students inside libraries and toilets, universities and colleges across the country — Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Chennai — are up in arms over the brutality against students protesting the Citizenship amendment Act (CAA).

After Jamia Milia in Delhi, violence erupted in the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) late on Sunday night, in protest against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

AMU students mounted a violent protest against the police crackdown on students in Jamia Milia in Delhi.

Cops used tear gas shells and lathi-charged students to disperse the mob.

Additional forces have been rushed in from adjoining districts. Rapid Action Force has also been deployed on the campus.

According to reports, a large number of students had collected outside the administrative block late on Sunday evening and pelted stones at the police. The protestors shouted abusive slogans against the police.

Efforts to pacify the AMU students by the AMU officials proved futile and the agitationists continued to pelt students.

Two policemen along with senior police and several journalists were injured in the violence, according to reports.

Senior police officials have reached the AMU and firing was reported from inside the campus.

Earlier, AMU students vandalized the area at Chungi gate and some vehicles were also set on fire.

Senior police officials in Lucknow were closely monitoring the situation and taking measures to prevent escalation of violence.

Unconfirmed reports said that AMU had been closed till January 5 but no official was ready to confirm this.

Aligarh had been simmering since Friday when the district authorities ordered a shutdown of Internet services in the district.

Students of Moulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) continued their protests on Monday in solidarity with the students of the Jamia Millia Islamia University.

Raising slogans and displaying placards, the students held protests on the campus, condemning the police action on the students in Delhi and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

‘Inquilab Zindabad’, ‘Save democracy’ and ‘Sanghi quit India’ read the placards carried by the protesters.

The students of India’s first and only Urdu university began the protest late on Sunday night, hours after police action in Jamia campus in Delhi and subsequently in Aligarh Muslim University.

Boycotting the exams, scheduled to begin on Monday, a large number of students joined the protest. Students’ Union urged the Controller of Examination to postpone the exams for the time being.

The protesters raised slogans rejecting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and demanded a thorough probe into the police action on students at Jamia and AMU.

The spark of protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) ignited unrest in various parts of Uttar Pradesh too.

Internet services have been shut down in six districts including Aligarh, Meerut, Saharanpur and Varanasi.

While students in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) clashed with the police late on Sunday night, students of the Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, an Islamic seminary, were also out on the roads after midnight in support of the students in the Jamia Milia and AMU.

However, timely action and deployment of a strong police force made the students beat a retreat. Internet services in the state capital were shut down for a few hours.

In Varanasi, students in the Banaras Hindu University also staged a protest march on the campus, late on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, students of the Aligarh Muslim University have been asked to vacate their hostel rooms at the earliest as the AMU has been closed till January 5.

The clashes between the AMU students and the police on Sunday night have left more than 30 students and ten policemen injured.

Hundreds of AMU students protesting against the amended Citizenship Act had clashed with police on Sunday night at the campus gate to express ‘solidarity’ with their counterparts in Jamia Milia University.

Aligarh Muslim University Registrar Abdul Hamid said the police entered the campus late Sunday night and clashes were reported from inside.

“Hostels are now being evacuated. The university is closed from today. This is being done due to disturbances created by some anti-social elements for the last three days,” he said on Monday morning.

All other offices of the AMU, however, will remain open as usual and the closure of the university is for the purpose of reading and examination only. The remaining examinations will be conducted after January 5 and the revised schedule for the same would be notified later.

AMU Proctor Afifullah Khan said some security personnel were injured in brick-batting near the gate.

Aligarh District Magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh said: “Internet services have been suspended from 10 p.m. on Sunday for the next 24 hours, in view of the protests by the AMU students.”

The AMU students had started gathering at the Babey Sir Syed Gate and shouted slogans against the law and police action on the demonstrators in Delhi. The AMU students broke the police cordon and fought pitched battles with the police.

Police have sealed all entry points to the campus.

Meanwhile, a student of the Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Monday, said that protests would now be held in a more planned manner across the state.

“On Sunday night, it was a reaction to what happened in Delhi, but we will now coordinate with other student groups and launch a major protest on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). We will not accept this lying down,” he said.

Meanwhile, a senior police official said that all intelligence agencies had been put on alert and such violent protests would not be allowed to take place.

A group of students at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on Monday extended their solidarity to the Jamia Millia Islamia students in Delhi and protested the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

One of the multi-lingual placards carried by the students read ‘students of Jamia Millia Islamia we are with you’.

Other slogans included ‘How dare you say we are not Indian’, ‘No place for Islamophobia’ and ‘No to National Register of Citizens (NRC) no to CAA’.

‘Why the hate for Tamils’ said a placard questioning the exclusion of Tamil Hindus from the CAA privilege which accords citizenship to persecuted Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Parsis from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, excluding Muslims.

Muslim minority sects such as Shias, Ahmadiyas and others are also persecuted in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The IISc students also read the preamble of the Constitution of India aloud in unison, “We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic.”

Two videos of the protesting IISc students went viral.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the police attack on Jamia students, the premier Indian Institute of Management – Bangalore (IIM-B) wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“We call upon you to not trample the democratic rights of citizens to peacefully protest an unjust law,” said joint IIM-B students and faculty letter.

The management school asserted non-violent civil disobedience is at the heart of the Indian republic’s founding and urged Modi to ensure that the students are allowed to protest peacefully.

The letter stood in solidarity with the students across the country protesting CAA, and denounced violence even from the custodians of the state, wielding immense power and responsibility.

According to an IIM-B source, the students avoid voicing their views or taking a stand on almost every issue directly as it will have a negative bearing on their campus placement prospects.

“Most students do not dare to share protest information even on the social media for fear of facing a backlash from the school’s management,” the source said.

The open IIM-B letter addressed to Modi was drafted by associate professor Deepak Malghan and others on behalf of the institute as a whole.

The Karnataka Congress party also came out in support of the Jamia students, tweeting, “We condemn Delhi police action who forcefully entered Jamia university campus, blocked gates and fired tear gas at students.”

The Congress party criticised the police for exceeded their jurisdiction and defying all norms. It shared the photograph of a student being beaten by the police even as some girl students attempt to shield him from the police.

College students in Tamil Nadu also protested against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, expressing solidarity with students of Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, who had clashed with the police on Sunday.

Members of Students Federation of India (SFI) protested outside the Chennai Suburban Railway Terminal against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The students shouted slogans against the Act as well as state and central governments.

Students of Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) took out procession inside the campus. Similarly, students of Loyola College here also held a protest.

In Tiruvannamalai, a group of students of Government Arts College held a protest and shouted slogans.

According to reports reaching here, students in Coimbatore and Madurai also protested against the police crackdown on Jamia students.

In neighbouring Puducherry, students of Pondicherry University raised slogans against the CAA, police action against the students of Jamia Millia Islamia.

Meanwhile, DMK President M.K. Stalin has announced his party would protest against the CAA on Tuesday. (IANS)