Hundreds of students protesters have clashed with the police in the Indian capital of Delhi, where police have entered a prominent university in an effort to clamp down on protesters opposing a controversial new law on migrants.
The Indian government led by the Bhartiya Janta Party under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently passed a Citizenship Amendment Bill that allows only non-Muslim migrants from its Muslim majority neighboring countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan) to become Indian citizens.
Since the passing of the law, violent protests have erupted in the country's North-Eastern states, following which the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada issued a travel advisory warning its citizens to "exercise caution."
This is our brave Delhi Police. #JamiaProtest pic.twitter.com/V8ANmNvI3X
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) December 15, 2019
On Sunday, students from the prestigious Jamia Millia Islamia university held a protest, which turned violent. There is no confirmation as to who were the real perpetrators of the violence - students or outside elements.
The Delhi police retaliated with tear gas and violently clamped down on the protesters after three buses were set on fire.
Several leading Indian journalists claimed that the police entered the university campus, including the library. Video clippings shared on social media indicate that the Indian police fired tear gas into the library and attacked students, who were merely studying in the library.
Students of #Jamia sent me this video, one of many but the only one I'm sharing for now. They say, tear gas shells are being fired inside campus, including inside library which is now smoke filled. I repeat we need an independent inquiry : how did Delhi erupt? pic.twitter.com/jMzmXkmZn7
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) December 15, 2019
All schools located near the Jamia Millia Islamia university have been asked to remain closed on Monday.
I have seen images of injured #Jamia students in hospital but take the decision at this time to not share the images. @DelhiPolice must clarify on bullet injuries. The videos are very disturbing and show students hiding for cover in the urinals of the university.
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) December 15, 2019
Similar protests also were reported from Aligarh University in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Following the Sunday violence, the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University - deemed one of the best universities in the world, also joined in the protest by sitting on an all-night demonstration against police brutality.
Similarly, several universities and colleges in other parts of India have asked the students to join the protest.
The clampdown by the Indian police in Delhi and other parts against the student-led protest is quite similar to the existing situation in Hongkong, where the anti-riot police have been accused of carrying out a string of violence in an effort to quell any form of dissent.
