Protests against the amended Citizenship Act hit new areas in Uttar Pradesh on Monday with a mob setting vehicles ablaze in Mau and students hurling stones at policemen outside an Islamic seminary in the state capital.
Students at the Banaras Hindu University again held a protest. In Lucknow, there was a demonstration at a private university as well.
Aligarh University campus remained sealed amid patrolling by the police, a day after students clashed with them.
AMU students started vacating their hostel rooms on Monday morning, as ordered by the authorities who had declared an early winter vacation. By the evening, a university official said, about 50 per cent of them had left the campus.
Protests erupted in other parts of Aligarh on Monday, with people in some areas demanding the release of those held after the previous day's clashes.
After the AMU violence in which about 70 people students and policemen - were hurt, the police had arrested 21 youths. They were trying to determine how many among them were AMU students.
UP police chief O P Singh told PTI that internet services in Aligarh, Saharanpur and Meerut were suspended.
In Mau, a group of protesters torched some vehicles, prompting police to lob tear gas shells and fire in the air. The police said the mob was dispersed.
Students at the Islamic seminary Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow's Gudamba area also joined the protest in solidarity with the agitating AMU and Jamia Millia students.
As they tried to storm out of the seminary, a police force stopped them. Some of the students then hurled stones at policemen outside the gates. Nobody was reported hurt.
Lucknow SSP Kalanidhi Naithani said an additional force will continue to remain deployed outside the seminary.
The seminary students had tried to protest on Sunday night as well but were pacified by the police and the college administration.
Aligarh SSP Akash Kulhary told PTI that 21 people were arrested for fomenting trouble on Sunday night on the AMU campus. Fifty-six people had been named in an FIR.
In Varanasi, scores of Banaras Hindu University students staged a protest at the main gate of the campus in support of the AMU and Jamia students.
BHU students gathered there holding placards and banners, and shouted slogans. A large number of police personnel were deployed.
Scores of BHU students, including those from the Left-backed AISA had also staged a protest at Lanka Gate on Sunday in support of the AMU students.
In Aligarh, AMU registrar Abdul Hamid said the police entered the campus late Sunday night.
Varsity spokesperson Shafey Kidwai blamed "lumpen elements" for the trouble on the campus.
"A peaceful democratic protests against the CAA (Citizemship Amendment Act) was being held in the campus for the past few days. But on Sunday evening, an atmosphere of unrest started enveloping the campus after violence at Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi," he said.
"As tempers ran high, a group of lumpen elements, yet to be identified, started instigating the protesters and this resulted in a very difficult situation, which threatened to go out of control and could have led to the loss of precious lives of innocent students," Kidwai said.
The university then declared its winter vacation from December 16 to January 5.
An AMU student said, "Around 7.30 pm social media messages were circulated throughout the campus calling for a general body meeting of students at the university library."
"These messages were not sent by student union leaders but were from some unidentified sources," he said.
In the library, students raised the issue of Jamia violence and decided to hold a protest near Bab-e-Sayed gate inside the campus, he said.
"Some youths wearing masks tried to instigate the students by raising emotive slogans and urged them to reach the varsity gate in large numbers. Shortly, a clash broke out and the police entered the campus," he said.
In Varanasi, scores of Banaras Hindu University students staged a protest at the main entrance gate of the campus.
Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati on Monday demanded a judicial probe into the violence at the AMU and the Jamia Milia, terming it "unfortunate".
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
