Opposition using students as pawns to suit their agenda: Sambit Patra over protests in Delhi, Lucknow

BJP on Monday accused the opposition parties of using students in Delhi, Lucknow and other places as "pawns" for their politics while asserting that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) does not affect any Indian of any religion, caste or ethnicity.

"The opposition are making pawns out of students to fulfil their political ambitions in Delhi, Lucknow and some other parts of the country. The educated students know that the CAA does not affect the rights of any Indian coming from any religion, caste or tribe," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said at a press conference here.

"From Article 370, the Ram Mandir verdict which came from the Supreme Court, or the issue of triple talaq, the opposition has consistently tried its best to fan violence and mislead the people," he added.

Further attacking the opposition, Patra said that the incidents of yesterday near the Jamia Millia Islamia University and the reaction of opposition leaders were similar to what had happened in Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU) a couple of years back.

He said that when anti-India slogans were raised in JNU, Rahul Gandhi, Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury and other leaders who held press conferences today had gone there too, he said.

He added that the Congress leaders had been opposing Article 370 and Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute and tried to give it a communal angle many times in the past.

"P Chidambaram had said that had Jammu Kashmir not been a Muslim majority state then Article 370 would probably not have been abrogated. In the Ram Mandir case, after the SC verdict Owaisi had said, I want my Masjid they even attacked the Supreme Court. In triple talaq, which SC had termed unconstitutional, they tried the same trick," Patra said.

"On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi did a rally which was termed as his relaunching rally, and from Sunday arsony was launched in the country. You can see a concerted effort by the Congress party," he added.

On Sunday, several students and policemen sustained injuries during a protest in Jamia Nagar area.

The protesters had set the DTC buses on fire near Bharat Nagar area on Sunday after demonstrations turned violent. Protestors also vandalised a fire tender that was sent to douse the fire, injuring two firemen inside the vehicle.

Delhi Police PRO MS Randhawa had said that a section of the mob had turned violent and started pelting stones on the police and at houses due to which police were forced to resort to baton charge and firing tear gas shells.

Following the incident, opposition parties hit out at the Central government for passing the citizenship law without thinking about its consequences.