Citizenship Law protests: ‘No one is safe here anymore… anyone can be a target — for merely exercising a right’

On Sunday evening, the Bab-e-Syed gate was the epicentre of the clash. A group of students gathered at the gate to protest police action against Jamia students. Within an hour, the protest took a violent turn. The police alleged that students threw stones at them, following which tear gas shells were fired and the protesters lathicharged.

“The historic gate was damaged. No one is safe here and home is more secure. Anyone can be a target — for merely exercising a right,” said Sara, an AMU student.

About 440 km away in Lucknow, students of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow were taking out a march on Monday when police pushed them back into the campus. IG, Lucknow Range, S K Bhagat, who was present outside the college on Monday, said, “Students indulged in violence and threw stones at police personnel for 10-15 seconds. We pushed them back inside the college.”

AMU students protest outside the university campus. (Express photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

Nadeemuddin (20), a student, said they wanted to hold a peaceful march around the campus. “We wanted to hold a march peacefully. We were not allowed to leave the campus. The police resorted to lathicharge on unarmed students. We were protesting against police atrocities in Jamia and AMU. We did not block any road. We did not indulge in violence,” he said.

The university administration has declared holidays from Monday and students were seen leaving for their homes. Mohd Faizan Nagrami, PRO, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, said no student was injured.

Two FIRs were filed in connection with the incident

In Varanasi, a group of BHU students staged a protest at the university gates and also took out a march till Assi Ghat. The protest ended peacefully, said Circle Officer Sudhir Jaiswal. “We staged a protest today in solidarity with students of AMU and Jamia Millia University against whom police resorted to lathicharge,” said Piyush Pandey, a student.