Violence mars anti-CAA protests across country; 15 dead in Uttar Pradesh

Protests continued to rage in several parts of the country against the amended citizenship act, with violence erupting in several places leading to clashes between police and protesters. Several hundreds of agitators were detained while others were booked under serious charges.

Fresh cases of stone pelting took place in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur and Rampur on Saturday against the Citizenship Amendment Act, while 15 people, including an 8-year-old boy, were killed since Thursday in violent agitations in different parts of the state. Over 260 policemen were also injured, of whom 57 received gunshot wounds, IG (Law and Order) Praveen Kumar told on Saturday (December 21).

“Women and children were used as shields by the protesters,” Director General of Police OP Singh said on Saturday maintaining that police did not open fire. “All the deaths that took place have been in cross-firing and this will become clear in postmortem examination,” the DGP told reporters.

“We are clear and transparent in this. If anyone died due to our fire we will conduct a judicial inquiry and take action. But nothing happened from our side,” the DGP stressed.

Police had no option but to resort to lathi-charge to chase them away, he said, adding that tear gas shells were used for dispersing the mob. In Kanpur, anti-CAA protesters on Saturday set Yatimkhana police post on fire and indulged in heavy brickbatting, leading to injury to some people.

Police had to lob tear gas shells and use canes to chase them away, and fire tenders were rushed to control the flame. ADG (Kanpur) Prem Prakash said RAF has been called out along with Vajr vehicles to control the situation.

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Samajwadi Party MLA Amitabh Bajpai and former MLA and SP leader Kamlesh Tewari have been arrested as a precautionary measure and their vehicles have also been seized. Officials said that crowds gathered in areas like Babupurva, Nai Sadak, Moolganj, Dalelpurva and Haleem College and police in large numbers was deployed to keep a watch over the situation.

Clashes broke out in Rampur between anti-CAA protesters and police on Saturday, resulting in injuries to several people, including policemen, officials said. Around 400 to 500 people gathered to protest against the amended Citizenship Act amid a bandh call and five of them were taken into preventive custody, they said.

Five protesters were hospitalised and the condition of one of them was stated to be critical, District Magistrate (DM) Aunjaneya Singh said. “Over a dozen policemen also suffered minor injuries during stone pelting by the protesters, including children aged between 12 and 18 years,” he told.

Another dozen protesters suffered minor injuries due to tear gas shelling by the police, Singh said. The DM suspected the involvement of non-locals in the protest and said, “Police did not open fire anywhere, yet one protester had a gunshot injury.”

Delhi court sends Bhim Army chief to judicial custody

In a fresh protest, fifteen people have been arrested in connection with the violence in Daryaganj in Old Delhi during a protest against the new citizenship law, police said on Saturday.

Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad was sent to 14-day judicial custody after he was arrested outside Jama Masjid in Delhi on Saturday (December 21) in connection with violence in Daryaganj area.

An FIR was filed against Azad for “instigating the crowd” in Daryaganj where a mob arsoned a private car. Police resorted to lathi-charge and used water cannons to control the situation. Azad was accused of organizing a march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar on Friday against the CAA despite not having permission from the police.

Meanwhile, students of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University and residents of the area gathered for a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act outside the university gate again on Saturday. They raised slogans of “Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isai, aapas mein hai bhai bhai“, “Ekta ka raaj chalega, Hindu-Muslim saath chalega“, “We want justice” and “Azaadi” while demanding repeal of the CAA.

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The student leaders made speeches at the protest site where they claimed that CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC) are against the constitution and the common people. They claimed that CAA’s implementation would be ‘disastrous’ for the country just as demonetisation was three years back.

Rail, road traffic affected due to Bihar bandh

Train services were affected and roads blocked in Bihar on Saturday during a bandh called by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) against the new citizenship law

In Patna, hundreds of RJD supporters stormed railway stations and bus stands carrying sticks and party flags in support of the Bihar bandh, but they were chased away by police personnel.

Bandh supporters in Nawada staged a demonstration on national highway 31 where they burnt tires on the road causing disruption in the movement of vehicles while agitators held a protest at Zero Mile Chowk in Muzaffarpur.

Train services were affected after RJD activists squatted on railway tracks in Araria and East Champaran districts, officials said.

Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Jitendra Kumar said, “Adequate forces have been deployed in all districts of Bihar and officials concerned were asked to deal sternly with anyone trying to foment trouble.”

The Bihar bandh called by the main opposition party in the state comes barely two days after a statewide shutdown was organised by the Left parties.

In Mumbai, twenty people have been detained and 130 booked in Hingoli district in Marathawada region of Maharashtra for allegedly damaging public property and rioting during separate protests against the contentious CAA, an official said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the situation in Assam and West Bengal was normal while mobile internet services were restored in Meghalaya, officials said.

The ban on mobile internet and mass messaging services, imposed on December 12 in the northeastern state, was lifted at 7 pm on Friday due to improvement in law and order situation, a senior home department official told.

The curfew imposed in Sadar and Lumdiengjri police station limits in Shillong was relaxed for 16 hours from 5 am on Saturday and no untoward incident was reported in these areas in the past 24 hours, East Khasi Hills District Magistrate M W Nongbri said.

In Assam, protesters took out peaceful rallies against the amended Citizenship Act in various on Saturday police said.

The curfew imposed in Dibrugarh following violent protests against the Act was relaxed for 16 hours since 6 am on Saturday as the law and order situation improved, they said.

The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), which is spearheading the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act, has planned a sit-in during the day in Guwahati.

In Chennai, close to 200 members of Students Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and Discrimination Eradication Front, all affiliated to Left parties, marched towards the Chennai Central Railway Station and attempted to block trains at around 10 am. However, police stopped them from entering the station premises.

The agitators continued their protest, raising slogans against BJP at the centre for bringing the Act and AIADMK in the state for voting in favour of the bill.

Later, police detained as many as 200 cadres including All India Democratic Women Federation leader Sakunthala, Discrimination Eradication front leader Samuel and SFI leader Mariyappan.

Similarly, CPI cadre attempted to besiege Raj Bhavan in Guindy. In the protest led by CPI veteran leader R Nallakannu, scores of Congress party workers also participated.

Nallakannu slammed the Centre for passing the bill in Parliament without even listening to the views of the people and the political parties.

Terming the act “autocratic”, Nallakannu said the Act was against the basic principles of the Constitution of India.

Even as the protesters marched towards the Raj Bhavan, police stopped them near the Taluk Office Road and detained as many as 300 people.