Maha students denounce police action in JMI, Citizenship Act

A large number of students in parts of Maharashtra poured onto the streets on Monday to denounce the police action against students of the Jamia Millia Islamia and AMU protesting against the new Citizenship Act which has triggered country-wide demonstrations.

Students of city-based Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), the University of Mumbai, Aurangabad's Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University and the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) staged protests in solidarity with their counterparts at the Jamia Millia Islamia and AMU.

A dozen students were detained at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in Aurangabad, central Maharashtra, and later released, police said.

The protests in the financial capital and other parts of the state were peaceful.

The Delhi-based Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) university had turned into a battlefield on Sunday as police entered the campus and also used force following protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which led to violence and arson.

The first to join the movement against the violence in JMI were students from the Aligarh University University (AMU) where there were clashes with the police late night on Sunday in which at least 60 students were injured.

Hundreds of students from the TISS and the University of Mumbai held protests to denounce the BJP-led government over the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and also the proposed National Register of Citizen (NRC).

They condemned the police action against the students of the JMI and the AMU.

TISS students gathered outside the college premises in the morning, carrying placards with anti-government slogans.

"The nation is dying while you are sleeping," read one of the placards. The students also shouted slogans against what they called "Godi Media".

They shouted slogans condemning "police brutality and violence" against the JMI and AMU students. "The time has come to speak up guys," shouted a student.

Students assembled outside the TISS campus in suburban Deonar and demanded scrapping of the proposed NRC and the Citizenship Act, which was passed by Parliament last week and received presidential assent.

Fahad Ahmed, a second year student of PhD at the TISS, said the Delhi Police should learn a lesson from their Mumbai counterparts on handling protesters.

"We assembled here in large numbers but none of the officers even touched any student. We are here against the government and brutality of Delhi Police," he told PTI.

"We are here since morning and protesting peacefully. We want Delhi Police officers to be held responsible for the Jamia incident," he said.

Members of around 18 student unions assembled outside the Kalina campus of the Mumbai university and held a demonstration.

Around 500 students from different departments took part in the demonstration.

State coordinator of Chatra Bharti Sanghatana Sachin Bansod said, "We assembled here to show solidarity with the Jamia Milia Islamia students and protest against the Centre's NRC plan and enactment of the CAA.

"We want that students arrested by the Delhi Police should be released immediately. If students want to express their views against the government, they should not be lathi- charged.

Bansod demanded action against the Delhi Police for their high-handed behaviour with the students.

"In news and social media, we saw how the Delhi Police behaved with students and women too. We want action against the Delhi Police," Bansod said.

"Our protests went on for two hours and members of 18 different student wings took part in it," he said.

Several parts of the country, including the North-east and West Bengal, have erupted in protest against the CAA, which seek to give citizenship to religiously persecuted non- Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The alleged police crackdown on the JMI and AMU students during their anti-CAA protest has also come under criticism from various quarters.

In Aurangabad, members of several student outfits held a protest at the Ambedkar university campus, Kunal Kharat, president of AIMIM state students wing told reporters.

Student organisations such as Samyak Vidyarthi Andolan, Panthers Republican Students Union, student wing of the Nationalist Congress Party, NSUI, Students Islamic Organisation, Muslim Youth Forum and Samta Vidyarthi Aghadi took part in the agitation, Kharat said.

"We are against the Citizen (Amendment) Bill (CAB) and also against the administration which attacked innocent students of the JMI university.

"To show our disapproval, we agitated and students came with us," Prakash Ingle of Samyak VIdyarthi Andolan told PTI.

Mohit Jadhav of NSUI, the Congress's student wing, said The attack on students in Delhi is totally unconstitutional. We also joined the agitation because people are targeting Rahul Gandhi.

Kharat said, "Like-minded student organisations are united and we are calling a bandh on Wednesday here (in Aurangabad). We request all our affiliated colleges to unite against this injustice and join the movement."