–Written By Rahul Kaul Vakil
The passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Rajya Sabha saw widespread dissent. Different parts of the country saw protests, some peaceful and the others not so much. One such protest was initiated at Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi. The entire campus was pierced by the cries for “azadi.” The manoeuvre, a political one, was, as always, given a communal colour by some miscreants. In such a sequence of events, the voice of the minority subset that exists within the student community at Jamia gets trampled upon and is reduced to non existence. It is imperative to understand and appreciate that not every student at Jamia has a political inclination or is in support of the anti-CAB protests that have engulfed the university right now.
Jamia Teachers Association called out a protest march to defy the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. The protest that was touted to be peaceful remains anything but. The students tried to break through the barricades used by the police on the way to their march to the Parliament. This led to the police using lathi charge to control the unruly crowd. After this, the students and civilians from nearby areas hurled stones at the policemen which led to the conditions getting worse and therefore the police had to employ non-lethal weapons to control the situation. A protest which was supposedly conducted to oppose the legislative move led to 2 police personnel being admitted in the ICU and 12 others injured. It is appalling to see that this section of miscreants has created so much nuisance that the exams had to be postponed until the situation gets normal, thereby affecting the future of so many students and putting it at stake.
Slogans like “Allahu akbar”, “Naara E Takkbeer” and “tera mera rishta kya, la illahi illallah; azadi kaun dilayega, la illahi illallah” were being employed by some people. It has become very apparent that the majority opinion in JMI is that of destruction and violence. However, it must be noted that while this may be the view of the Majority student community, it is not unequivocally the view endorsed by the University or every single student of the University. Students of Jamia do support Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. We have always stood strong and resilient against communal forces and we will continue to be. We will stand together in harmony and peace. Jai Hind!
