On December 19, police banned demonstrations in several parts of India with the imposition of Article 144, which prohibits gatherings of more than 4 people in a public place as illegal, namely parts of the capital New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, including Bangalore. When Article 144 was introduced, IIM-Bangalore students peacefully protested by placing shoes and posters outside the door of the institute, which they called Shoe Satyagraha. [416] After IIM-Ahmedabad and Bangalore, IIM-Calcutta peacefully raised its voice in solidarity against the law and brutal police misconduct against students protesting across the country. [417] Several institutes in Kozhikode, including IIM-Kozhikode, NIT-Calicut, Government Medical College, Kozhikode, and Farook College, protested from December 19 to 20. [418] Chennai police refused permission for marches, rallies, or other demonstrations. [419] [420] Internet services were also shut down in parts of Delhi. Due to non-compliance with the ban, thousands of protesters were arrested, mainly in Delhi, including several opposition leaders and activists such as Ramachandra Guha, Sitaram Yechury, Yogendra Yadav, Umar Khalid, Sandeep Dikshit and D Raja. [421] [422] [423] Despite fear of arrest, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Hyderabad, Patna, Chandigarh, Mumbai and other cities. Civil society groups, political parties, students, activists and ordinary citizens have used social media platforms to call on people to protest peacefully. [186] Protests with 20,000 protesters ended peacefully on the August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai. [193] The law has been controversial since its introduction, leading to protests by students, political organizations, and civic groups.
On 4 December, the bill was introduced and the Assam Students` Union (AASU) rejected the proposal. The AASU had participated in the Assam movement against illegal immigration of Bangladeshis in the 1970s and 1980s. [681] The United Nations and a number of governments have publicly criticized the citizenship law as discriminatory on the basis of religion. But BJP officials taunted and threatened protesters, while some of their supporters carried out mob attacks on critics and anti-government protesters. Some BJP leaders called for the shooting of protesters, whom they called “traitors”. At least 30 people, mostly Muslims, were killed during protests in BJP-ruled states, particularly in Uttar Pradesh. In other protests, including by students, police did not intervene when government supporters attacked protesters. “Police were present on campus when the violence broke out,” said a Delhi university student who was injured when a pro-BJP group attacked protesting students. “We asked them for help and then ran to flee the attackers, but the police never came to our aid.” On 17 December, police arrested ten people (some with criminal pasts) in connection with violent clashes in Jamia.
None of those arrested were students of Jamia. [470] On January 13, several groups of students demonstrated in front of the vice chancellor`s office, demanding a postponement of exam dates, filing a complaint against the Delhi police, and ensuring the safety of students. The VC announced in the afternoon that charges against the police would be filed on January 14. [268] On January 15, the VC met with the Delhi Police Commissioner to discuss the violence and urged him to file an FIR. [277] JMI`s registrar filed an application with a Delhi court to file an FIR on violence at JMI. The court ordered Delhi Police to submit a report by March 16 on the measures taken in response to the JMI administration`s complaint. [471] When the court was presented to the Delhi Tis Hazari court on January 14, 2020, it asked the prosecutor what was wrong with the protests, as many people who have protested in the past are presidents of the current government. [499] Of course, India is home to some of the world`s most populous cities, and rural-to-city migration within the country is likely to increase over the next decade. This suggests that urban centres will continue to serve as sites for collective action. Thousands of Indians have protested against a new citizenship bill as well as possible plans for a National Register of Citizens (NRC), saying the measures are an attack on a secular constitution and Muslim minorities. Rallies and demonstrations in support of the Citizenship Amendment Bill were held in New Delhi,[768][769] Mumbai,[770] Nagpur,[771] Bangalore,[772] Dehradun,[773] and several other locations.
[774] A rally in Calcutta was led by Jagat Prakash Nadda, the BJP national chairman, attended by Hindu refugees from Pakistan and Bangladesh. [775] [776] Protests against the AAC were condemned at these rallies and Narendra Modi was praised for making a decision on the AAC. [777] [778] On 20. In December 2019, CAA thanked a BJP and BJP politician for the change. [695] More than 1,000 academics have issued statements in support of CAA. [779] The signatories included Swapan Dasgupta, Shishir Bajoria, journalist Kanchan Gupta, and JNU faculty and administration, including Professor Ainul Hasan, JNU Dean of Studies Umesh Ashok Kadam, and JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar. [780] Since then, India`s Home Minister, Amit Shah, has alluded to the possibility of a nationwide NRC. Shah called “illegal immigrants” “termites” in April, and the citizenship bill is now being considered in conjunction with the planned NRC nationwide. According to observers, the protest at Jamia Millia Islamia University, which has a predominantly Muslim student body, began peacefully.
But when police forced their way into campus, some protesters reportedly threw stones at them. Buses and motorcycles were set on fire. Law enforcement rushed beyond the chaos into buildings where other students were hiding. “We sold two cows, chickens and goats,” said a woman whose family could not afford legal fees and documents to argue their citizenship claims in alien court. “Now we have nothing to sell.” Immigration courts that decide citizenship in Assam lack transparency and uniform procedures, Human Rights Watch said. Human rights groups and the media have reported that many more Muslims have been tried and a much larger proportion have been declared foreigners than Hindus due to obvious political pressure. Even some civil servants and military personnel have been declared illegal immigrants. During a protest in Phulwari Sharif, near Patna, some of the bad guys started throwing stones and a clash broke out between protesters and supporters of the law.
A nearby temple and cemetery were damaged in the clash. Eyewitnesses said police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse people. Police said members of the Hindu community fired bullets that wounded nine Muslim men. [597] During the crowd, an eighteen-year-old protester, Amir Hanzla, ran toward the alleys of Sangat Mohalla, a neighborhood that was a center of right-wing Hindutva members affiliated with the RSS. [598] His body was found a week after his alleged murder by Hindutva extremists. [599] Police arrested six defendants who belonged to the Hindu Putra Sangathan, a Hindutva group. All the suspects have confessed to their crimes, and police are also investigating 18 other organizations linked to the extremist group. [600] On December 15, 2019, at 6:46 p.m., hundreds of police officers forcibly entered the Jamia campus without permission from the Higher Education Authority. [163] Police used batons and tear gas against protesting students.
[414] Nearly a hundred students were arrested by Delhi police and released at 3:30 a.m. the next morning. [455] Images of students being dragged and attacked by police were broadcast by news channels. Students from all over Delhi joined the agitation. [456] About two hundred people were wounded[414] and taken to AIIMS and Holy Family Hospital. [457] A lawyer who appeared to represent some Jamia students arrested after the protests claimed in a statement that police sexually assaulted students in Jamia and turned off the lights to avoid being caught by CCTV.
