Condemning the police attack on the protesting students at Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, hundreds of students took out a procession and staged a demonstration outside the district administrative complex here on Tuesday.
Organised under the banner of All India Democratic Students Union (AIDSO), the agitating students raised slogans opposing the police action and expressing solidarity with the Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University students who were up in arms against the amended Citizenship Act on Sunday.
“The attack on a peacefully agitating students in Jamia Millia Islamia was a dark day in Indian history. It was an attack on the freedom of expression and the right to protest against injustice.
“Though the protest was peaceful, the police resorted to lathi-charge and burst tear gas shells causing injuries many students. We condemn the police atrocities and demand an inquiry into the incident,” Hanamanth S.H., district president of AIDSO, said during the agitation.
The agitating students had raised slogans demanding the repeal of the controversial amendment to the Citizenship Act, which, they said, sought a division of communities along religious lines in offering citizenship. They also opposed the Union government’s decision to extend the National Register of Citizens (NRC) holding that the survey efforts were meant for targeting particular sections of society and communities and making them feel Stateless in their own homeland.
“There are millions of people in the country, particularly the tribal communities, who don’t have any records to prove their citizenship. If NRC is implemented all over the country, these communities, having lived for centuries in the country, would be treated as illegal immigrants and pushed to detention centres.
“The BJP government at the Centre has clear intentions of isolating these already marginalised communities and render them Stateless in their own homeland. We strongly oppose the move,” Mallinath Singe, district secretary of All India Democratic Youth Organisation, a sister outfit of AIDSO, said during the demonstration.
A memorandum was then submitted to the office of the Deputy Commissioner with a list of demands.
