Anti-CAA protests spread in Capital

New Delhi: Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the national capital spread to Seelampur and Daryaganj-Rajghat areas. Protests were also reported from other parts of the country, with activists, students and political leaders stepping up their anti-CAA stir.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested 10 suspects for Sunday’s arson and violence near the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI). None of them were students, said Delhi Police. In UP, police detained 28 persons in connection with Monday’s violent incidents in Mau.

“Students were allowed to hold peaceful protests in central universities, except Aligarh Muslim University and JMI,” a HRD ministry official said, adding that they are yet to receive a formal request from JMI for a high-level probe into the incident.

On reports of police firing at JMI students, Delhi Police said they did not fire any bullet but have seized an empty cartridge from the area. According to police, three persons were admitted to Safdarjung and Holy Family hospitals.

While the one admitted to Holy Family did not have any bullet injury and was discharged, separate police and medical probes were on to ascertain the nature of injury of the two admitted to Safdarjung, another home ministry official said.

“We want to make it clear that the Delhi Police did not fire any bullet on Jamia protesters. However, investigation is on about an empty cartridge found at the spot,” the official said.

The protest in the Seelampur area of Delhi started at around 1.00 pm, with people raising slogans against the new citizenship law and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Angry protesters demanding scrapping of the amended citizenship law torched motor bikes, damaged buses and pelted stones at police. A large number of policemen have been deployed in the area following the violence.

In Kerala, protesters hurled stones at state transport buses and forcibly shut shops during a dawn-to-dusk strike by 30 groups. State police has arrested 278 people for the violence. To express solidarity with the JMI and AMU students, the Maulana Azad National Urdu University Teachers Association also took out a peaceful march on campus in Hyderabad.

Students of Pune’s Fergusson College in Maharashtra took out an anti-CAA and NRC rally. The MHA in a statement said: “CAA does not apply to any Indian citizen. All citizens enjoy the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India.”

An MHA official claimed: “CAA has nothing to do with NRC. The legal provisions regarding NRC have been part of The Citizenship Act, 1955, since December 2004. Also, there are specific statutory rules of 2003 to operationalise these legal provisions.”