India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15—
Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) students and Jamia Teachers Association (JTA) have dissociated themselves from the clashes between police and the protesters against the citizenship law near the university campus on Sunday evening.
On Sunday, clashes broke out near Jamia campus and near Kalindi Kunj Park.
Clashes on Sunday was bigger than that on December 13. Police is reported to have fired several rounds of teargas shells to disperse the protesters. However, it is immediately known known if police also fired bullets. There are no reports of how many people were injured.
However, locals said that police indulged in heavy lathi-charge. They alleged that the police did not spare even women and girls.
JMI vice-chancellor Najma Akhtar said that students of the university were in the campus and were not moving out of the office.
Appealing for peace, VC said, “I am worried about the students”.
“I appeal to students to keep peace. Everything will be all right but we can’t protect students if they leave the campus,” Ms Akhtar told media. She said that some members of the public from the main road that divides the university campus into two, may have joined the protest.
JTA condemned the violence. They said that they stood for peace and were totally against any kind of violence.
A group of Jamia students issued statement dissociating themselves from the violence on Sunday. “We have time and again maintained our protests are peaceful and non-violent. We stand by this approach and condemn any party involved in violence. We have maintained calm even when students have been lathi-charged and some women protestors have been badly beaten up,” the statement said, adding that violence “by certain elements” was an attempt to vilify and discredit genuine protests.
In response to a call by VC, Miran Haider, one of the protesting students, told mediapersons that most of the protesting students are still inside the campus and would “follow Constitutional paths to register their protest”.
The incident led to massive traffic jam near Maharani Bagh flyover, Ashram, Okhla Mod and Mathura Road.
The movement of metro rail between Kalindi Kunj and Sukhdev Vihar stations was badly affected.
Ramesh Biduri MP blamed opposition political parties. “The CAA is only for refugees from outside the country. It is not for Indian citizens”, he said.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh accused the Congress of taking advantage of the situation.
Sources said that hundreds of people from nearby locality had gathered at the Jamia campus in support of the students agitating against the citizenship law that they feel would be used to declare Muslims as foreign and then lodge them in detention camps.
According to sources, no political party leaders were seen at Jamia, nor student leaders or faculty members. “The people had come on their own. They are directionless people”, a resident of Zakir Nagar said.
Though, no information was available about anyone being injured, at least three government buses are reported to have been torched.
There was a huge gathering in the evening near JMI university with a large number of armed police also deployed there.
Police is reported to have used tear gas shells to disperse the students and other having gathered to oppose the law. Firing of Teargas shells that began around five pm was continuing intermittently till the writing of this report at 7.30 p.m. It is however not known how many teargas shells were fired.
Today was the sixth day of protest by JMI students against the citizenship law.
Several Jamia students were injured in a clash between police and students on December 13 when the Jamia alumni, students and teachers wanted to take out a march from the university to Parliament House. The clash took place after police prevented the protesters and used force when students marched forward by removing police barricades.
