Following a night of vehement protests and demonstrations in India's national capital by hundreds of students, concerned citizens and political representatives, as many as 50 detained students of Jamia Millia Islamia have now been released even as the situation in several universities remained tense after violent protests over the amended Citizenship Act.
The?Citizenship (Amendment) Act has been called "divisive" and violative of the Constitution by at least 500 noted Indian personalities, who have asked the government to withdraw it.??
The students in universities across the country, from Assam to Tripura and Patna to Mumbai, have been vociferously opposing the much contentious Law and are arguing that it is against the fundamental ethos of the Indian Constitution. They say the law seeks to define India on religious lines, against which its foundations were laid.??
Protests that began on Sunday in Jamia reached their crescendo as violence was reported widely from its adjacent areas. Several buses were set ablaze and conflicting reports continue to raise suspicion over what the actual causes of violence were. The police, however, clamped down on students on a scale perhaps unimagined or unseen earlier. As the television channels played out the live footage of the turmoil that was taking place inside one of the most prestigious and credible universities of the country, chill gushed down the spines of many Indians -- watching the events unfold in utter shock and with a sense of dismay.
The university turned into a battlefield on Sunday as police entered the campus and also used force, following protest against the Act, news agency PTI reported.?
Of the 50 students released, 35 were released from the Kalkaji Police Station and 15 from the New Friends Colony Police Station, a senior police officer told PTI.
Hundreds of students then reached the old Delhi Police headquarters at ITO to participate in an “emergency?protest” against?the?police?action?at Jamia Millia Islamia. The events shaping up to the midnight drama had set the stage for a clash between the students and the police personnel.?
With photographs of Mahatma Gandhi and Bhim Rao Ambedkar in their hands, and songs of religious harmony on their lips, students of India took the centre stage and expressed disgust on the iron-fist handling of the protest.?
They raised anti-police slogans and demanded action against officials who entered the university.???
Later in the night, the Delhi Minority Commission (DMC) had issued a direction to the SHO of Kalkaji Police Station to release the "injured" Jamia students held there or take them for treatment at a reputed hospital without any delay.
The Commission had also directed the officer to file a compliance report by 3 pm on Monday.
DMC Chairman Zafarul Islam Khan had said that failure to implement it will attract appropriate action.
At the University, the situation continued to be tense with many women students preferring to leave the campus for their homes, sources attributed by news agencies said.
Many students feel they are not safe even inside the campus, the sources attributed by news agencies said.?The varsity had declared winter vacation from Saturday till January 5 and even postponed the exams.
In the wake of violence in southeast Delhi after the protest, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had closed the gates of around 13 metro stations on Sunday evening on advice from the police.?Metro commuters heaved a sigh of relief as entry and exit gates of all metro stations were opened and services resumed at all stations, the DMRC said on Monday.?
"Security Update Entry & exit gates at all stations have been opened. Normal services have resumed at all stations," the DMRC said in a tweet on Monday.
Amid conflicting reports, at least four public buses and two police vehicles were torched as protestors clashed with the police in New Friends Colony, near Jamia Millia Islamia. At least leaving 60 people including students, cops and firefighters were injured.?Police used batons and teargas shells to disperse the violent mob but denied firing at them.
A Jamia students' body claimed they had nothing to do with the arson and "certain elements" had joined during the protest and "disrupted" it. They also accused the police of high-handedness.
Soon after the violence, Jamia Millia Islamia Chief Proctor Waseem Ahmed Khan claimed that the Delhi Police entered the campus without permission and beat up staff members and students.
Condemning the police action, university Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar had said that students who were inside the library have been moved out and they are safe.?Police said they entered the university campus only to control the volatile situation.
The protest was being held against the contentious law which seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslims religious minorities from three neighbouring countries who arrived in India to escape religious persecution.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, seeks to grant?Indian citizenship?to?non-Muslim refugees?from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan if they faced religious persecution there. They will be given?Indian citizenship?after residing in the country for five years, instead of 11 years which is the current norm.??