Citizenship bill: DU students hold protest, call legislation 'communal'

Delhi University students burnt copies of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill here on Thursday as part of a protest against the proposed legislation which they dubbed as "unconstitutional" and "communal".

The protest at the university's Art Faculty was called by various students' bodies, including the Left-backed All India Students' Association (AISA) and Students' Federation of India, and autonomous women students' collective Pinjra Tod, under the banner of Collective-DU.

Other organisations and students from Assam also took part in the demonstration.

The protesters described the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) as "illegal" and also took out a march in the university campus.

"The CAB has been brought by the RSS-BJP to further the Sangh Parivar's agenda of a 'Hindu Rashtra'," Delhi University (DU) AISA secretary Madhurima Kunda said.

"(Union Home Minister) Amit Shah is no one to tell us whether we are the citizens of this country. The country will not accept citizenship on religious grounds. We also condemn the state's repression of protests in Assam," she said.

The protest was joined by Sandipan Talukdar, a journalist from Assam; Sajjad Hussain, also a journalist; former Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) president Nandita Narain; and DU professor N Sukumar.

They expressed concern over the situation in Assam and said the CAB could lead to another partition of the country.