Students at several universities in India have been involved in clashes after protesting against a citizenship law
Students in India who are protesting against a controversial citizenship law, say they ‘fear for their lives’ after being beaten by counter protesters, while ‘police do nothing’.
One of the students at Delhi University, who spoke to Metro.co.uk, says he and his friends were ‘beaten viciously’ by a student group that supports the government, while police watched and let the culprits walk away.
The 21-year-old, who wanted to remain anonymous over concerns for his safety, says he ‘has never seen the intensity of violence’ in the country reach such levels before.
He had been part of a group of students on December 16 that had been protesting at the university, in solidarity with students at other universities who were also protesting and who had been attacked by baton-wielding police.
On December 15, Delhi police broke up a protest at Jamia Millia Islamia university campus using batons and tear gas, while student protesters at Aligarh Muslim University were also involved in clashes.
Over the past two weeks, India has been gripped by protests as hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets to oppose the ‘Citizenship Amendment Act’, which the Indian government passed earlier this month.
The law offers amnesty to non-Muslim illegal immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
The incident at Delhi University is said to have taken place on December 16 (Picture: AISA Delhi University)
The government says the law will protect religious minorities fleeing persecution from Muslim majority countries, however, critics say that it goes against India’s secular constitution, making citizenship contingent for the first time, on religious criteria.
The law is also considered to be controversial because it comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government announced plans to establish a nationwide register of citizens that it claims will identify illegal immigrants.
A National Register of Citizens, which was published in the North-Eastern state of Assam, effectively resulted in 1.9 million becoming stateless, after they could not provide documents ‘proving their lineage’.
Members of the Karnataka Reserve Police Force beat two men close to a barricade set up on a street in Mangalore on December 20, 2019, amid heightened security due to protests (Picture: AFP)
Many Muslims in the country say the moves are designed to render them stateless.
However, the Indian government says people can appeal the decision to the courts.
Twenty-three people have been killed nationwide since the citizenship law was passed.
Police are alleged to have ‘done nothing’ as protesters were attacked at Delhi University (Picture: AISA Delhi University)
A number of students face off with the police at Delhi University (Picture: AISA Delhi University)
The student said: ‘I’m from a Hindu background, we were showing solidary with students at the two other universities.
‘Then members of the student wing of the Bhartiya Janata Party, the Akhil Bhartiya Vishwa Parishad, attacked us.
‘I was kicked and punched, I fell to the ground.
‘The attack lasted for several minutes.
Supporters of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shout slogans during a march in support of a new citizenship law, in Ahmedabad, India (Picture: Reuters)
‘People would ask the police to intervene, they would a while later, but they didn’t arrest anybody.
‘We’ve filed police complaints, but they’ve not been acted upon’.
He said many of his friends and protesters feared for their safety.
The student urged international governments to apply pressure on the Indian government and to stop it from ‘undermining the secular nature of the country, with its push towards creating a Hindu Rashtra’.
Police beat protesters with sticks during a demonstration against India\’s new citizenship law in Lucknow (Picture: AFP)
He also said greater international pressure would help protect those exercising their democratic right to protest.
The Hindu Rashstra is an ideology that seeks to define India as a Hindu state.
Prime Minister Modi has defended the citizenship law, by claiming that the bill was passed to ‘help the persecuted’.
During a rally in Delhi he called on the country to ‘respect India’s MPs and its parliament’.
Meanwhile, authorities have banned public gatherings and internet access has been blocked at times in some states.
Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected]. For more stories like this, check our news page.
badass_babua on December 25th, 2019 at 15:46 UTC »
India is at a tipping point. The next few months will define if we move towards a liberal, secular country or a hindutva fascist regime.
Stay strong fellow Indians.
FlamingNostrils on December 25th, 2019 at 15:01 UTC »
Its not just student unfortunately. In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, police as openly targetting muslim communities.
Interviews of old parents, whose kids have been taken away and imprisoned, and who now live in perennial fear, are heart breaking.
This will only get worse, as the supports of this bigoted government keep shouting for more. Utterly shameless bigotry.
PM_ME_YOUR_LAWNCHAIR on December 25th, 2019 at 14:14 UTC »
Summary of the CAA:
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019. It amended the Citizenship Act of 1955 by providing a path to Indian citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities fleeing persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.[2] Muslims were not given such eligibility.[3][4] The act was the first time religion had been used as a criterion for citizenship under Indian law.[5]