Scuffle ensues as anti-CAA protesters stopped en route to Parliament

A scuffle ensued after the police stopped hundreds of protesters, including residents of Jamia Nagar and students of Jamia Millia Islamia University, from marching towards the Parliament on Monday (February 10). The protesters, which also included the alumni of the university, were led by the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC).

The protesters, who were demonstrating against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), did not have requisite permission to hold a march towards Parliament, according to the police. The university had a heavy deployment of security personnel, many donning riot gear, in and around its campus.

The protesters began their march from Jamia’s gate no. 7. The police appealed to them to end their march. A scuffle ensued as policemen tried to stop the protesters. Many protesters even jumped over barricades. The protesters raised slogans like “Kagaz nahi dikhayenge (We will not show documents)” and “Jab nahi dare hum goron se toh kyun dare hum auron se (When we did not fear the British, then why should we fear others)”.

Related news: On Shah’s cue, Thakur says Shaheen Bagh will be cleared after Delhi polls

Several women are also part of the protest. Many waved tricolour and raised slogans of “Halla Bol”. Men formed a human chain on either sides of roads as women walked ahead. “It has been two months since we are protesting. No one from the government has come to talk to us, so we want to go to talk to them,” said Zeba Anhad, a burqa-clad protester.

Meanwhile, the national capital witnessed another protest march against the contentious citizenship law and the NRC that included hundreds of students and civil society members. The protesters, carrying placards and banners of all sizes and colours, converged at Mandi House around 11 am and started marching towards Jantar Mantar.

A large number of police and paramilitary personnel walked along with them. “The protesters do not have permission to take out a march, but as long as they maintain peace, we do not have a problem,” a police official said. The protesters, however, claimed that they had the permission and would march till Jantar Mantar.

Children as young as 10, senior citizens, civil society members, and university students filled the streets and ran the length of central Delhi, shouting anti-CAA and anti-government slogans. They carried the photographs of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad and social reformer Savitribai Phule.

Related news: SC takes cognisance of infant’s death at Shaheen Bagh during protests

The wife of Dr Kafeel Khan, who was in September acquitted of all negligence and corruption charges in the Gorakhpur BRD Hospital tragedy, and brother of Sharjeel Imam, arrested on sedition charges, also participated in the march taken out under the banner of Welfare Party of India.

The CAA allows easier citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis and Jains who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 2015 to escape religious persecution there. But Muslim migrants don’t figure on this list. Those opposing the CAA contend that it discriminates on the basis of religion and violates the Constitution.

They also allege that the CAA along with the NRC is intended to target the Muslim community in India. However, the central government has dismissed the allegations, maintaining that the law is intended to give citizenship to the persecuted minorities from the three neighbouring countries and not to take away anyone’s citizenship.

(With inputs from agencies)