RAF personnel firing tear gas shell in Rampur. UP DGP O P Singh denied opening fire on protesters while suggesting that those who died were caught in cross-firing between protesters. (Photo: ANI)
Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) Today Live News Updates: The death toll in protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Uttar Pradesh has soared to 15. Over 600 people, the police said, were taken into custody as part of “preventive action”. However, UP DGP O P Singh denied opening fire on protesters, news agency PTI reported, while suggesting that those who died were caught in cross-firing between protesters.
Meanwhile, in UP’s Rampur, clashes broke out between anti-CAA protesters and police in which several people, including policemen, were injured on Saturday, officials told PTI. Also, protesters in Kanpur torched a police post in Yatimkhana area. Stone-pelting and subsequent use of tear gas shells was also reported
Protests against the citizenship law swelled nationwide and there was a pushback from state governments and even its allies, the ruling BJP was heard climbing down on the plan for a pan-India National Register for Citizens. In Delhi, the police have arrested 15 persons in connection with Friday’s Darya Ganj violence where a police vehicle set ablaze and detained five others in connection with the clashes that took place in East Delhi’s Seemapuri area.
At least 45 people, including 13 police officers, were injured as Walled City protests in the national capital that had largely remained peaceful, turned violent on Friday evening.
Police use water cannons to disperse the crowd at Delhi Gate on Friday. (Express photo)
Amid nationwide agitations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the Congress, led by party chief Sonia Gandhi, has decided to stage a silent protest at Rajghat on Monday afternoon demanding protection for the Constitution and the rights of people as enshrined in it.
Top leaders of the party including its former president Rahul Gandhi and its General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are likely to participate in the 'satyagrah dharna' till the evening, sources said.
The decision to hold the silent protest was taken at a meeting of top party leaders at Sonia Gandhi's residence here on Saturday evening, they said.
More than one thousand academicians from across India have issued a statement in favour of CAA. They said it was a long pending demand of free India. The list includes academicians from institutes in India and abroad.
Statement in Support of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 by The Indian Express on Scribd
Thousands of left-leaning students marched to BJP headquarters in Kolkata, demanding rollback of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed nationwide NRC, PTI reported. Students from Jadavpur University, Alia University, Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, and Calcutta University took out a rally from Esplanade to Mahajati Sadan. The protesters shouted slogans and held placards which read 'Scrap NRC and CAA' and 'We won't allow fascism to rule in India', as they passed by the BJP's West Bengal headquarters at Muralidhar Lane.
The Press Association Saturday condemned "attack and unnecessary harassment" of journalists during coverage of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, news agency PTI reported. The Association said it said in a statement that it was concerned over incidents of burning of media OB vans during the protests and appealed to all sections to realise the need of a free press and the importance of media during incidents of national importance.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally on Sunday at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, which is a little over a kilometre away from Old Delhi's Daryaganj that was hit by violence on Friday during the protest against the amended Citizenship Act. (PTI)
Curfew was relaxed in Mangaluru on Saturday with the situation in the city whichwas rocked by violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act leaving two dead in police firing, peaceful. The situation in Bengaluru and other parts of the state, where prohibitory orders were in place, was also peaceful with no major protests taking place.
Restrictions on movement were relaxed for brief period on Saturday in parts of Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur city where curfew is in force, the police said. As many as 35 persons have been arrested in connection with Friday's violence, they added.
Areas under four police stations here had witnessed stone pelting during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on Friday, leaving 20 policemen injured. On Saturday, no violent protests were reported in the city or elsewhere in the state, where restrictions on assembly of more than four people are in place in 44 out of 52 districts. (PTI)
Haryana Home minister Anil Vij on Saturday said holding protest is a democratic right but the government will not tolerate the breach of law by anyone. “Holding any protest is a democratic right but it will not be tolerated if anyone is found taking law into his own hands,” Vij said in a Haryana government statement. (PTI)
Amid protests against the new citizenship law and proposed nationwide NRC, a Bangladeshi man has been arrested with fake Aadhaar and Indian voter cards, Government Railway Police (GRP) said here on Saturday. Mohammad Belal, a resident of Tejpur in Sylhet district of Bangladesh, was arrested for travelling aboard the Amritsar-Kolkata Durgiana Express without a ticket, GRP Inspector Harinarayan Singh said.
Amid protests against the new citizenship law and proposed nationwide NRC, a Bangladeshi man has been arrested with fake Aadhaar and Indian voter cards, Government Railway Police (GRP) said here on Saturday. Mohammad Belal, a resident of Tejpur in Sylhet district of Bangladesh, was arrested for travelling aboard the Amritsar-Kolkata Durgiana Express without a ticket, GRP Inspector Harinarayan Singh said. (PTI)
The Tiz Hazari court has dismissed Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad’s bail and has remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody.
All Assam Students Union(AASU) Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal of misleading people that their identity, language and land are secure though Bangladeshis are being settled here through the contentious legislation.
Even as protests continue against the Citizenship Amendment Act across the country, a Gujarat Lok Sabha MP on Saturday handed out citizenship certificates to three members of a Hindu family who came to India from Pakistan seeking refuge over a decade ago. Rajkot Lok Sabha MP Mohan Kundariya handed out the certificates to Harsinh Sodha, Sarupsinh Sodha and Parbatsinh Sodha, who came to India in 2007, at a function held in Vavdi village in Morbi. (PTI)
An incident of scuffle took place in Kolkata. While students' rally was passing through CR Avenue opposite the BJP state headquarters, some students tried to climb up the road divider in a bid reach party office. Policemen on the spot thwarted them from doing so.
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad has been produced at the Tis Hazari court. Azad has been arrested for “instigating the crowd” at Darya Ganj in Old Delhi where a private car was set ablaze by a massive crowd protesting against the CAA.
Azad’s counsel Mehmood Pracha opposes 14 days of judicial remand and said that he has not instigated the crowd at Jama Masjid.
Anti-citizenship law protestors in Kanpur set Yatimkhana police post on fire on Saturday and indulged in heavy brickbatting, leading to injury to some people, a senior official said. Police had to lob tear gas shells and use canes to chase them away. 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.
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. (PTI)
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday accused the BJP government of using dictatorial measures to suppress the voice of people as she condemned arrest of students, intellectuals, journalists and social workers protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and a possible NRC.
The NRC and the new citizenship law were against the Constitution of India, she said in a statement.
The people of the country would not allow any such attack on the Constitution but the government was bent upon using force and violence against protesters, she added. (PTI)
The death toll in protests soared to 15 in Uttar Pradesh as a child died in a stampede when the crowd of protestors was being dispersed by the police.
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, arrested for allegedly “instigating the crowd” at Darya Ganj in Old Delhi where a private car was set ablaze by a massive crowd protesting against the CAA has not yet been produced before the Court. Advocate Mehmood Pracha, claiming you be Azad’s counsel, urge the court to ask the police about his whereabouts.
Pracha tells the Dutyb Magistrate that all the accused has been produced but, why Azad has not been brought to court. The counsel contended, the investigating officer should tell, whether Azad has been arrested, dead or alive. The police officer from Daryaganj told the court that he is not aware about Azad’s whereabouts. Other officer tells the court that he has been arrested, taken for medical examination and he will be produced within 24 hours.
Many students, led by the student council and on individual capacity, including some Gold Medalists, who were supposed to receive their degrees from President Ram Nath Kovind have decided to boycott the convocation function of Puducherry Central University on December 23.
15 protesters, one claiming to be a juvenile, who were arrested Friday in connection with Daryaganj violence produced before Duty MagistrateTis Hazari court. They have been booked under sections; 147,148,149,436,427,323,353,332,186,120-B/34 IPC and Section 3 and 4 of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
Police seeks 14 days of judicial custody for the accused. Senior advocate Rebeca M John, representing most of them, opposed the remand and submits that all the sections are bailable, except 436 of IPC.
PTI reported that protests in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur turned violent as stone-pelting took place, in which five protestors and over a dozen policemen got injured.
Around 400 to 500 people gathered here to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act amid a bandh call, police said. Five protesters were hospitalised and the condition of one of them was stated to be critical, District Magistrate Aunjaneya Singh said. "Over a dozen policemen also suffered minor injuries during stone pelting by protesters that included children between the ages of 12 and 18 years," Singh told PTI.
Another dozen protesters also suffered minor injuries in tear gas shelling by the police, he said. A call for a bandh was given in Rampur on Saturday by anti-CAA protesters even as CrPc Section 144, which bars assembly of people, was in force in the region. (PTI)
NS president Raj Thackeray on Saturday virtually dubbed the new citizenship law and proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) as ploys by the Centre to divert the attention of people from the "economic crisis".
Thackeray also raised questions over the proposed "influx" of immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh to India under the recently-passed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
"There is a riot-like situation in the country due to the violence over CAA and NRC. I wonder how many people have understood these two decisions. There are different aspects to these two issues," he told reporters. (PTI)
The Uttar Pradesh Police chief on Saturday maintained that police did not open fire during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, suggesting that those who died were caught in cross-firing between protesters. "All the deaths took place in cross-firing and this will become clear in the post-mortem examination," said Director General of Police (DGP), Uttar Pradesh, O P Singh told news agency PTI.
"We are clear and transparent on this. If anyone died due to our firing, we will conduct a judicial inquiry and take action. But nothing happened from our side," he asserted.
Meanwhile, at least 14 persons have been killed in clashes with the police in during protests over three days in UP. Police said that over 600 people were taken into custody as part of “preventive action”.
A senior Muslim cleric from Bhopal on Saturday appealed to people to maintain peace and not indulge in the acts that bring "disrespect" to the community, a day after a peaceful protest was held in the Old City area against the new citizenship law and the proposed NRC. Shahar Qazi (city cleric) Syed Mushtaq Ali Nadvi also underlined "restlessness" among Muslims and secular people over the two moves.
"There was restlessness among Muslims, especially youths, and secular people after the Central government got the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) passed in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha recently," Nadvi said while addressing a press conference. (PTI)
A group of students from Jamia Millia Islamia on Friday claimed they had to cut short their field trip to Haryana's Panipat district after some villagers asked them to 'leave or face the consequences'. Panipat's Superintendent of Police Sumit Kumar, however, denied any such incident and said the students did not complain about anything during their stay in the district.
One of the students, part of the 43-member group from Jamia's Social Work Department, said the incident happened on Tuesday when they were attending a 10-day rural camp in Patti Kalyana, Haldana and Garhi Tyagyan villages. 'The rural camp started on the morning of December 15, the day violence erupted near Jamia Millia Islamia (against the new citizenship law). Two teachers and two non-teaching staff accompanied us on the trip,' said the student, who did not wish to be identified. (PTI)
Eminent historian and writer Ramachandra Guha today termed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as 'immoral' and 'against the spirit of the Constitution' and said a wise and just government would withdraw it. He also noted that immediate withdrawal of the NRC was a necessary first step to restore trust and heal the nation. 'To make two things absolutely clear. 1. The immediate withdrawal of the NRC is a necessary first step to restore trust and heal the nation. 2. The CAA is immoral and against the spirit of the Constitution. A wise and just Government would withdraw it too,' Guha tweeted. Guha was among many others who were detained on Thursday for staging a demonstration against the Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC near the Town Hall in Bengaluru, in defiance of the prohibitory orders imposed in the city.
An FIR has been registered against Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, who was arrested by Delhi Police early this morning, in connection with Friday's violence in Darya Ganj. He has been accused of instigating the crowd.
Shops around Charminar in Hyderabad remain shut as part of a silent protest on Saturday. (Express photo)
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa today arrived at Mangaluru to meet the family members of the deceased persons in the alleged police firing. Addressing reporters in this regard, the Chief Minister said, “I have met the victim's family and I have directed the district commissioner to give the compensation soon as per law." He added that a curfew imposed in Mangaluru city will be relaxed between 3-6 pm today and the entire day tomorrow. However, Section 144 will continue to remain in place.
At least 35 people have been arrested in connection with Friday's violent protests in Madhya Pradesh, which left 20 police personnel injured, an official told PTI. Demonstrations against the law were held across the state on Friday, with protesters pelting stones at police in some places. Police used baton charge to disperse the protesters. Curfew was imposed in parts of Jabalpur city, while the internet was suspended for six hours in the capital city of Bhopal. Police have arrested 35 people for stone-pelting, which left 20 police personnel injured, Jabalpur Superintendent of Police Amit Singh said on Saturday. Curfew has been imposed in Gohalpur and Hanumantal police station areas and some parts of Kotwali and Adharta in the city, he said, adding that the situation in all these places is being reviewed.
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, an official said on Saturday PTI reported. The violence was reported in Kalamnuri town and Hingoli city in the district on Friday in which stones were hurled at policemen, he said. "So far, police have detained around 20 people for damaging public property and rioting," the official said. He said 130 people have been booked for cheating, attempting to murder, endangering life or personal safety of others, voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means and unlawful assembly. Cases were also registered at Parbhani and Beed districts against some protesters under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. Three people have been arrested in Parbhani district in separate violence-related incidents.
Peaceful protests outside Jamia institute in New Delhi on Saturday (Express photo)
NCP president Sharad Pawar today slammed the NDA government, saying the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens were "ploys to divert" attention from serious issues plaguing the country. "CAA and NRC are ploys to divert people's attention from serious issues that the country is facing," he told reporters in Pune. "Not just minorities, but those who care for the country's unity and progress are opposing CAA and NRC. The new citizenship law will disturb and hurt religious and social unity and harmony of the country," he said. He questioned why only migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given citizenship under the amended law and not the Sri Lankan Tamils.
A four-member delegation of Trinamool Congress will visit the grieving families of those who were killed in police firing in Lucknow, the party said in an official statement today. The delegation will be led by TMC MP Dinesh Trivedi. The delegation is expected to reach Lucknow on Sunday.
Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has been served a notice by Mangaluru police, barring his entry into the commissionerate limits till Sunday midnight. He was to visit the Mangaluru city on Sunday to meet the families of the two people who were killed in police firing on Thursday. Taking to Twitter, the Congress leader said, "Police have issued a notice to me that reads I am prohibited from entering Mangaluru. We are living in an undeclared emergency situation. The chief minister should insist Prime Minister Narendra Modi to at least declare an emergency officially and run 'Tuglaq Darbar' as they wish."
The situation in Assam was normal though protesters took out peaceful rallies against the citizenship law in various parts of the state on Saturday, police said. The curfew imposed in Dibrugarh following violent protests against the new citizenship law 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 later in the day in Guwahati. Mobile internet services were restored on Friday in Assam after nine days of its suspension while broadband services had resumed on December 18.
Mobile internet services resumed in Meghalaya on Saturday, eight days after they were snapped in the wake of violent protests over the new citizenship law, PTI reported. The ban on mobile internet and mass messaging services, imposed on December 12, was lifted at around 7 pm on Friday due to improvement in law and order situation, a senior home department official told the news agency. Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma reviewed the law and order situation in the state with senior home department officials and issued instructions for restoring mobile internet and messaging services in the state, he said. The official said the decision towards restoring the mobile internet and messaging services was taken after the state Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Centre to implement the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya.
A massive protest against the citizenship law was also held in Nagpur on Friday.
Students of various educational institutions on Friday decided to come together under one banner to protest against the law. Students of TISS, IIT-Bombay, Mumbai University and other educational institutions, along with representatives of political parties, have now come together under the banner Joint Action Committee for Social Justice. They plan to hold a protest on December 27, which will start from Byculla around 2 pm and end at CSMT. The members of the committee will meet at Ambedkar Bhavan in Dadar East on Saturday evening to discuss the new law.
Protests continued in different parts of the city on Friday, a day after a massive demonstration was held at August Kranti Maidan in south Mumbai. Around 2,000 people, including children, gathered at LBS Marg in Kurla to voice concerns against the new law. Holding placards with messages such as, “In my own land, you can’t declare me a foreigner” and “Let’s stop second partition together”, people sang the National Anthem at the two-hour-long protest that continued till 4 pm. A protester, Rahim Chaudhary, said, “Way back in time, my great grandparents had come and settled in India. After years of struggle in this country, today if somebody comes and tells me to leave the country then I am not going to do that. I have nobody outside India, why should I leave?”
Thousands of RJD supporters fanned out across Bihar today, disrupting rail and road traffic while trying to enforce a statewide shutdown, PTI reported. In the state capital, hundreds of party supporters -among whom children could also be seen - stormed railway stations and bus stands carrying sticks and party flags but they were chased away by police personnel. In Nawada, bandh supporters staged a demonstration on national highway 31 where they burnt tires on the road causing disruption in the movement of vehicles while agitators protested at Zero Mile Chowk in Muzaffarpur. There were reports of bandh supporters squatting on railway tracks in Araria and East Champaran districts.
The Congress in Kerala is organising protests in all district headquarters today as part of strengthening its campaign against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Senior Congress leaders including Ramesh Chennithala, K C Venugopal, Mullappally Ramachandran and Shashi Tharoor are participating in the campaign, capturing the mood of the people in the state against the law enacted by Parliament during its winter session. Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Chennithala will inaugurate the protest in Malappuram district in North Kerala, which has been witnessing a series of agitations against the CAA. Tharoor will lead the agitation in Kozhikode, party sources said.
Five men have been detained in connection with yesterday's Seemapuri violence in East Delhi, JCP (Eastern range) Alok Kumar said.
“I told him to get ration. Groceries were almost over and there was a curfew-like situation,” says Shabeena (28), whose husband Mohammad Wakeel (32) died on Thursday of a bullet injury during the violence in Lucknow’s Aminabad area. Shabeena and Wakeel married on November 4 last year. Local residents have gathered outside Wakeel’s house in Daulatganj area of Thakurganj. Aslam, Wakeel’s neighbour, says Wakeel plied an auto-rickshaw that he had rented from someone. “His father Sarfuddin is a mason and the family has been living in the area for many years.”
BSP president Mayawati today asked the Centre to give up its "stubborn stand" on the new citizenship law and NRC and withdraw its decisions. "Now that voices opposed to the CAA and NRC have started coming from within the NDA, the central government should give up its stubborn stand and withdraw its decisions," she said in a tweet in Hindi. "Also, it is an appeal to protesters to express their opposition in a peaceful manner," the Bahujan Samaj Party chief added.
Hundreds of people assembled at Central Park in Connaught Place to support the Citizenship Amendment Act Friday evening. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, who attended the event, said, “The people protesting have a fear that NRC will come on the basis of the Act. But NRC has not even been drafted yet.” Supporters marched around the Inner Circle, with traffic being diverted for them. For many of those gathered, the Act presents an opportunity for persecuted minorities, particularly Hindus, living in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, to settle peacefully in India.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has said that if the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is implemented, over half the population in his state will not be able to prove their citizenship as they neither have land nor land records. He also said that half the people in Chhattisgarh do not possess any document to prove their citizenship as their ancestors were illiterate who migrated to different villages or states. "In Chhattisgarh, there are 2.80 crore people and more than half of them will not be able to prove their citizenship. They neither have land records nor land. Their forefathers were illiterate. Most of them migrated to other villages or states. From where they will bring the 50-100 years old documents," he asked. "This is just an unnecessary burden on people. We have several agencies to check infiltration in the country. The agencies can take action against the infiltrators. But how come they (Centre) can trouble the common people," he said.
Fifteen people today were arrested in connection with the violence in Darya Ganj on Friday, police said. As many as 45 people, including 13 policemen, were injured in the clashes yesterday. The arrested persons have been charged with rioting and using force to deter policemen from doing duty, police said, PTI reported. According to police, the protesters had set ablaze a private car parked at Subhash Marg area on Friday evening. The fire was immediately doused.
As violence was breaking out at Delhi Gate Friday evening, hundreds of people gathered at India Gate for another protest against the new citizenship law. With their phone flashlights in hand, the protesters read the Preamble of the Constitution in unison — a practice now common at protests against the new Act — after sunset. Along with students and activists, many had travelled to the venue as they were unable to protest, mostly due to police restrictions in their localities. A group of five friends from Ghaziabad — where CrPC section 144 was in force along with the rest of UP, and mobile internet connectivity was suspended — were among those at the spot. Aamir Aziz, famous for his song ‘Achhe Din Blues’, recited a poem: ‘Tum goliyo se humein maar zarur sakte ho, lekin hum marr jayeein ye zaruri nahi’. He spoke about resistance and praised women, who led many protests across the city.
The death toll in Uttar Pradesh in violence over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act has risen to 11, PTI quoted officials as saying.
Three days after violence broke out in North East Delhi’s Seelampur during a protest against the new citizenship law, thousands turned up on the streets for a protest despite prohibitory orders. Joint CP (Eastern Range) Alok Kumar said, “A total of 30,000 people protested at Seelampur, and 15,000 each in Mustafabad, Khajuri, Brijpuri and Shastri Park. Apart from police personnel, 10 companies of CRPF and RAF were also deployed to contain the protesters.” Despite barricades, police presence and 10 drones in the area, at least 2,000 protesters managed to breach the barricades and reached Delhi Gate in the evening, where a private vehicle was set ablaze. Police resorted to lathi charge and used water cannons. At least 45 people have been admitted to Lok Nayak hospital.
The Hindu newspaper’s Uttar Pradesh correspondent, Omar Rashid, was allegedly detained by the Lucknow police for around two hours on Friday. He alleged that “communal slurs” were used against him. When contacted by The Indian Express, Additional SP (East) Suresh Chandra Rawat claimed that he “does not know about the detention”. Despite repeated attempts to contact them, senior officers were unavailable for comment. Rashid said, “I was waiting in Hazratganj… when some people in civilian clothes barged into the dhaba… They then pushed me and my activist friend into a vehicle… They then took to us to Hazratganj police station where I was searched and the policemen there made communal remarks about me and my Kashmiri identity.”
In Uttar Pradesh, senior police officers claimed that protesters opened fire at police in many protest sites. Around 25 vehicles were set ablaze, police said. “The situation is now under control. The cause of deaths of six persons would be ascertained only after the autopsy report is obtained. Action will be taken against assailants after identifying them,” said Praveen Kumar, IG (law and order). “In preventive action following today’s incidents, police have taken a total of 667 persons into custody,” UP Police said in a statement.
At least six persons were killed in firing during protests in UP on Friday against the Citizenship Amendment Act, taking the death toll from the agitation over two days to nine. Police said that over 660 people from towns across UP were taken into custody as part of “preventive action”. According to police, two persons died in Bijnor, and one each in Meerut, Kanpur, Firozabad and Sambhal. Doctors at the Meerut Medical College, however, said there were two deaths in the city. Officials and police said at least 38 policemen were injured in the violence, including six who suffered bullet injuries. They said violent protests were reported mainly from 12 districts, including Firozabad, Muzaffarnagar, Bulandshahr and Bahraich. Officials said that Internet services have been blocked in several districts, including Bulandshahr, Sambhal, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bijnor, Firozabad and Muzaffarnagar.
A delegation of students have met Jamia Millia Islamia Vice Chancellor Najma Akhtar to demand the creation of a museum in the campus to document the police crackdown, which they likened it with the Jallianwala Bagh incident, PTI reported. The delegation of 17 students from the Jamia Coordination Committee, formed in the aftermath of protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, met Akhtar on Thursday and put forth a series of demands. "We have demanded that the university must reopen. The so-called called 'Winter break' must be called off. Students must be called back," a statement from the students said.
Minutes after a peaceful protest from Jama Masjid to Delhi Gate turned violent Friday evening, leaving 45, including 13 policemen, injured, Lok Nayak hospital saw a flurry of activity. Though hospital administration said the injuries were “not serious”, The Indian Express found multiple patients with bandages wrapped around their heads and in bloodstained clothes. A group of policemen were also being treated in the ward, which was guarded by hospital security and policemen. A doctor in the ward said, “There are blunt trauma injuries on the head, lacerated wounds and fractures too.”
On Friday's violence, Delhi Police spokesperson Mandeep Singh Randhawa said, “Local protesters from the area had left and this was a group from outside (that clashed with police). They set a private vehicle on fire and we used water cannons. No teargas or rubber bullets were used.” Police attributed the root of the violence to a large gathering forming in Seelampur through the day, which grew to 30,000 people at one point. Thousands had also gathered in four more areas in Northeast Delhi. It was when splintered groups of these protesters decided to head to Delhi Gate that trouble started, said a senior police officer.
According to the Lok Nayak hospital in Delhi, the injuries on Friday ranged from fractures to bruises and lacerations on the head. Around 11 pm, an impromptu protest started outside the old Delhi Police headquarters at ITO, with people demanding the release of those detained in Darya Ganj, 2 km away. The day had started far more calmly, with thousands gathering at Old Delhi’s Jama Masjid following the afternoon prayers. Among them was Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, who reached the venue after evading Delhi Police. As Azad, with Constitution in hand, started speaking, police moved in to detain him. In the crowd and chaos, though, he managed to give personnel the slip — only to reappear at the mosque two hours later and head inside for evening prayers. Till late Friday night, Azad was inside the mosque as Delhi Police teams waited outside. Around 3 pm, people started moving from Jama Masjid to Delhi Gate, 2 km away, but the protests were limited to sloganeering. Around 5 pm, protesters had started to leave, police said.
At least 45 people, including 13 police officers, were injured as Walled City protests that had largely remained peaceful till 5 pm turned violent on Friday evening — a turn of events police have attributed to over 1,000 people coming to the protest site at Delhi Gate from Seelampur more than 15 km away. Around 6 pm, a constable’s car parked outside Darya Ganj police station was set on fire, and as stone pelting started, police used lathi-charge and a water cannon to disperse the crowd. A total of 32 people were detained, apart from several minors who were apprehended and remained inside Darya Ganj police station premises till late Friday night. Outside, several lawyers had gathered after receiving panicked WhatsApp messages from civil rights activists.