Al Jazeera News :
Protests against India’s new citizenship law have spread to several college campuses across the South Asian country in solidarity over police action in two university campuses on Sunday.
More than 100 of students were injured after police stormed New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), located 130km (81 miles) from the capital, to disperse the protests. The students were demonstrating against the passing of a contentious law that seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from neighbouring countries. Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh can acquire Indian citizenship as per the new law, which blocks naturalisation for Muslims.
Critics say the law – similar to US President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban – goes against the spirit of India’s secular constitution. Rights groups and a Muslim political party have challenged the law in Supreme Court.
Clashes have erupted in New Delhi between thousands of protesters and police, the latest violence in a week of opposition to the citizenship law.
Police fired tear gas in the New Seelampur part of the capital to push back protesters swarming to barricades and throwing stones. At least two police were injured, a Reuters news agency witness said. “It was as a peaceful protest against the citizenship bill … but got out of hand,” resident Azib Aman said. Cars were damaged and roads strewn with rocks while small fires on the road sent smoke into the air. Addressing an election rally in poll-bound Jharkhand state, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the opposition parties are “urban naxals firing off your [protesting students’] shoulders”.
“Urban naxals” is usually used by India’s right-wing forces to describe activists working on tribal and minority rights.
“Stop this guerilla politics. Indian constitution is our only holy book. I appeal to youth in colleges to debate our policies, protest democratically,” Modi said, according to ANI news agency.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has said it has closed at least four metro stations in the Indian capital following protests against the citizenship law. “Entry and exit gates of Welcome, Jaffrabad and Maujpur-Babarpur, Seelampur and Gokulpuri are closed. Trains won’t be halting at these stations,” DMRC said in a tweet.
India protests spread across universities Fresh protests against India’s new citizenship law and the attack on university students have erupted across the country. Thousands of protesters marched in the eastern city of Kolkata in West Bengal for a fresh rally led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a fierce critic of Modi. New protests also broke out in the southernmost state of Kerala, while several rallies were planned in the capital New Delhi, according to news agencies.
