Thousands of protestors assembled at the India Gate in New Delhi on Monday to protest against the amended Citizenship Act and the police action against the students of Jamia Millia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. Several leaders of the Congress also participated in the demonstration where protestors read out the preamble of the Constitution.
Demonstrations were also held in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra, among other places. In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a protest march against the amended law. Protests continued in some states of the North East, including Assam, but internet and prohibitory orders imposed in the state will be lifted from Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party, meanwhile, announced a nationwide campaign to spread awareness about the legislation and claimed that it was not discriminatory against Muslims.
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The protests against the amended law also spread to college campuses across India on Sunday. There are a number of protests scheduled in colleges throughout the day.
Here are the updates from the day:
10.30 pm: The broadband internet services will also resume across Assam from Tuesday morning, PTI reports.
10 pm: The curfew in Guwahati will be lifted on Tuesday morning, PTI reports.
9 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray says that the questions the Shiv Sena asked in Parliament about the Citizenship Amendment Bill were not answered by the Centre.
8.42 pm: Three former students of the Jamia Millia Islamia have filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking an independent judicial inquiry by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or High Courts into alleged police atrocities against students at the university, Live Law reports.
8.37 pm: “Congress, AAP and the Trinamool Congress are playing vote bank politics over the Citizenship Amendment Bill,” Amit Shah claims in Jharkhand. He accuses the parties of creating an environment of violence in the country.
8.33 pm: Students protest on the Savitribai Phule Pune University campus against police action on students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, PTI reports. The students are from various colleges and affiliated to groups like the National Students Union of India, Students Federation of India and Yuvak Kranti Dal.
8.23 pm: The BJP claims it considers the amended Citizenship Act as part of the freedom movement, PTI reports. The party also accuses the Opposition of political opportunism.
“We consider the Citizenship Amendment Act as part of the freedom movement in India, because the freedom movement had certain aspects unfinished,” BJP National Vice President Vinay Sahasrabuddhe tells reporters in Bengaluru. “One of them was implementation of the Nehru-Liaquat Ali Pact 1950, where it was guaranteed that both India and Pakistan will provide security to all minorities.
8.20 pm: Members of Students Federation of India have attempted to block trains at Madurai station in Tamil Nadu, The Times of India reports. They have been taken away by the police.
8.16 pm: Protestors at India Gate have also read out the Preamble to the Indian Constitution, vowing to adhere to its secular values, News 18 reports.
8.13 pm: Protestors outside the Jamia Millia Islamia campus have now dispersed, News18 reports. They will resume their protest on Tuesday morning.
8.10 pm: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar says that Mamata Banerjee’s government has not briefed him even on the current “critical” situation in the state, ANI reports. “I’d like that we in tandem, in larger public interest, work so that people of West Bengal get respite from violence,” he adds.
8.06 pm: Mumbai Congress leader Milind Deora has criticised the government for “waging war” against its own people, but asked protestors to observe non-violence.
8 pm: Communist Party of India leader D Raja says there is a “civil war-like situation” in the country, PTI reports. “Amit Shah must be held responsible for such brutality by the police,” he adds. “What is the response of the home minister, where is he?”
7.55 pm: Sitaram Yechury has demanded an investigation by a Supreme Court judge into the police action at Jamia Millia Islamia University, PTI reports. “Whoever gave the permission to allow the police to enter the Jamia campus should be brought to book and punished,” he says.
7.49 pm: Union Home Minister Amit Shah says the Citizenship Amendment Act will not take away anybody’s nationality, PTI reports. “The CAA is to give citizenship to refugees facing religious persecution, it is not to take away citizenship of any Indian,” he says in Poreyahat in Jharkhand during a poll rally.
“Some parties are spreading rumours and inciting violence for their political interest,” he adds. “I request students to go through the CAA once and not fall in their trap.”
7.44 pm: Protestors have allegedly torched 15 vehicles at a demonstration against the Citizenship Amendment Act, in Dakshintola area of Mau in Uttar Pradesh, PTI reports. The arson has prompted the police to fire in the air.
“The mob has been dispersed. Section 144 of CrPC is already implemented in the district,” Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi says. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code prohibits the assembly of four or more persons.
7.39 pm: Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says a maximum of 5.42 lakh people will be benefited by the amended Citizenship Act, PTI reports. However, he adds that the actual number may be even lesser.
7.34 pm: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation says that entry and exit gates of all stations have been reopened. “Normal services have resumed in all stations,” it adds in a tweet.
7.30 pm: “I am ready to surrender my life but not bow down my head to politics of hatred,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says. “I am not ready to surrender to the diktats of proponents of hatred politics.” She is speaking at the inauguration of a state-sponsored Christmas carnival in Park Street area in Kolkata.
7.27 pm: The Shiv Sena has accused the BJP of stifling the people’s voice, PTI reports. “The BJP has the habit of imposing decisions on people of the country like it had imposed demonetisation, GST [Goods and Services Tax] and other decisions on them,” Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande tells the agency.
7.20 pm: A curfew has been imposed in Mau district in Uttar Pradesh after protests, The Times of India reports. District Magistrate Gyan Prakash Tripathi had to hurriedly leave the spot to save himself from the mob.
7.11 pm: Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury says that the party will file a petition in the Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act, ANI reports. “It will be done maybe today. It’s all ready,” he tells reporters.
7.07 pm: “The government’s intention is clear – spread instability in the country, rob the youth of their rights, create an atmosphere of religious tension and serve your political interests,” Sonia Gandhi says.
“The writers of this script of polarisation are no one but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah,” she adds. Sonia Gandhi says that Shah now lacks the courage to visit the Northeast.
7.03 pm: Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi accuses the Centre of declaring a war against its own people, PTI reports. She adds that the Narendra Modi-led government is the “creator of violence and divisiveness” in the country.
6.51 pm: Congress leader AK Antony says almost all important Opposition leaders in the country will meet President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday over police action in Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, ANI reports.
6.48 pm: The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has filed a complaint with Commissioner of Police Amulya Patnaik, alleging that Aam Aadmi Party leader and minister Manish Sisodia and MLA Amanatullah Khan were involved in the riots at Jamia Millia Islamia on Sunday, ANI reports.
6.44 pm: Protests against the amended Citizenship Act have spread to the Benaras Hindu University in Uttar Pradesh, PTI reports. Uttar Pradesh police chief OP Singh says internet services in Aligarh, Saharanpur and Meerut have been cut.
Students have also hurled stones at police at a Islamic seminary in Lucknow on Monday, the agency reports.
6.40 pm: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav says the BJP government has pushed the country into “an inferno of violence” by the “destructive” Citizenship Amendment Act. “The BJP government has pushed the country into an inferno of violence by its destructive law,” he tweets. “It is inflicting fatal injuries on the future of the country. It is said that when people start losing, they become oppressive.”
6.34 pm: “There was vandalism in Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati,” Himanta Biswa Sarma says. “When we investigated, we found involvement of a Congress activist in that particular incident. If he has done it in his individual capacity or as part of an organised crime that needs to be probed.”
6.31 pm: Amnesty International has called for an end to the “brutal crackdown” on protesting students. “The brutal crackdown on student protests in India must end,” it tweeted. “Students have the right to protest. Violence against peacefully protesting students in India – or anywhere else – can’t be justified under any circumstances.”
6.28 pm: BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra has accused the Congress of making a “concerted effort” by creating violence, for political gains, PTI reports. “We had Rahul Gandhi on Saturday instigating people that Modi government is trying to differentiate between Hindus and Muslims,” he says. “And then from Sunday we see the kind of scenes that no one would like to see on the roads of the civilised nation. This is all the conspiracy of opposition and certain other parties.”
6.26 pm: An unidentified Ministry of Home Affairs official has said that no person belonging to communities included in the Citizenship Amendment Act will be granted citizenship automatically, PTI reports. “The new act does not mean that all refugees or illegal immigrants getting Indian citizenship automatically,” he says. “They have to apply for citizenship which will be processed by the competent authority. The applicant concerned will be given Indian citizenship only after fulfilling the required criteria.”
6.23 pm: Fresh protests have erupted outside the Jamia Millia Islamia metro station in Delhi, The Indian Express reports. The protestors chanted slogans against Modi and Amit Shah and set their effigies afire.
6.20 pm: The Muslim Advocates Association has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act, and asking it to declare the law unconstitutional, ANI reports.
6.18 pm: “In the Guwahati mob violence, we have witnessed a specific pattern,” Himanta Biswa Sarma says according to ANI. “There is huge involvement of people who are not citizens of Guwahati and who have come from the lower Assam districts. Whether they have come for participation in agitation or they have been brought here by some kind of design, that will be investigated by the government. A proper investigation team will be announced in a day or two.”
6.16 pm: “Students are the soul of the nation,” Gandhi says according to The Indian Express. “The incident was an assault on the Constitution. Students were dragged and beaten. Students have the right to protest. India is a democracy not autocracy.”
6.13 pm: Priyanka Gandhi demands that the prime minister speak on what happened at the Jamia Millia Islamia University on Sunday, ANI reports. “Whose government beat up the students?” she asks. “He should speak on the sinking economy. His party MLA raped a girl, why hasn’t he spoken on it?”
6.08 pm: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot says the BJP is preparing the ground to make India a Hindu Rashtra, instead of focusing on the country’s economy, PTI reports. He accuses Narendra Modi and Amit Shah of trying to create “division” in the name of religion and wonders whether the country would remain intact if they continue doing so.
6.06 pm: All trains between Kolkata and North Bengal have been cancelled due to the protests, The Indian Express reports.
6.03 pm: Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says the daytime curfew in Guwahati has now been withdrawn, ANI reports. “However, night curfew will remain imposed until we review the situation and take a decision in this regard,” he adds.
6 pm: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has called Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to Raj Bhawan in Kolkata on Tuesday, to apprise him of the law and order situation in the state, ANI reports.
5.55 pm: Around 50 people who gathered outside IIM-Ahmedabad in protest have been detained, a police official says according to PTI. Along with activists, including Shamshad Pathan of Alp-Sankhyak Adhikar Manch, several faculty members, students of IIMA, CEPT University and other prominent institutions have been taken into custody. A police officer said they were detained for not taking permission to protest.
5.51 pm: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishen Reddy has pleaded ignorance about police atrocities on protesting students, PTI reports. “I have not seen any such video so far,” he says. “But I believe some foreign elements are egging on the protestors.”
5.47 pm: Mamata Banerjee has said that the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens can be imposed in West Bengal only “over my dead body”, PTI reports.
5.40 pm: The National Commission for Women has asked Delhi Commissioner of Police Amulya Patnaik to “investigate, take action, and file a detailed action taken report” on allegations that police personnel sexually assaulted women students at Jamia Millia University, ANI reports.
5.33 pm: “We should not indulge in any activity which is not in national interest,” Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal tells agitating students, according to PTI. He appeals to students to maintain peace on campuses.
5.30 pm: “Entry & exit gates of Lok Kalyan Marg and Janpath are closed,” the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation tweets. “Trains will not be halting at these stations.”
5.23 pm: Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says the police have registered 136 cases, and arrested 190 persons during violence in the state, The Hindu reports.
5.16 pm: Emmanuel Lenain, the permanent ambassador of France to India, tells reporters that the Citizenship Amendment Act is an internal matter of India, ANI reports.
5.11 pm: “The country’s atmosphere is bad,” Priyanka Gandhi says at the protest venue, reports PTI. “Police is entering university to beat up [students]. The government has tinkered with the Constitution. We will fight for the Constitution.”
5.08 pm: The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked the state to protect life and prevent property from getting damaged, PTI reports.
5.05 pm: The Ministry of Home Affairs has sent an advisory to all states regarding violence related to Citizenship Act, The Hindu reports. State governments have been asked to take requisite precautionary measures to maintain law and order. The ministry has also asked the states to take action against circulation of fake news and rumours on social media that could lead to violence.
5.01 pm: IIM Ahmedabad students join protests over police action against Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, PTI reports.
4.58 pm: Noida Senior Superintendent of Police (Gautam Buddh Nagar) Vaibhav Krishna says the police are identifying people who are spreading rumours or inciting posts and issuing them warnings on social media before initiating legal action, PTI reports.
“We are establishing contact with groups of people which appear to be prone to falling prey to rumours,” Krishna says. “We are active on social media and monitoring Facebook and Twitter, getting updates on WhatsApp posts. Objectionable content and the people sharing it online are being identified and red cards [warning notice] issued to them.”
4.55 pm: Parveen adds that for female students from faraway places such as Assam, where she is from, the institute will not make any travel arrangements. “They claim they’ll stop the trains which don’t normally stop here,” she says. “But we have no guarantee. I said I’m from Assam, where there is trouble. How will I go? They have said to empty the hostel by tonight. From tomorrow, food will stop.”
4.53 pm: Afsana Perveen, a student at Aligarh Muslim University who lives in the hostel, tells Scroll.in, “The whole university was emptied, in the name of winter vacations. They said you leave in 24 hours. They are arranging buses for nearby locations, like Delhi, Moradabad.”
4.50 pm: “This is a government that has attacked the rights of youths and students of the country,” Congress Chief Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala says according to ANI. “That is why, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other senior Congress leaders have decided to sit on a symbolic protest at the India Gate from 4 pm, for the next 2 hours.”
4.44 pm: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation adds that the entry and exit gates of Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan have been closed. Trains will not halt at Patel Chowk and Udyog Bhawan.
4.40 pm: The BJP also claims that some parties are trying to instigate students, using them as “pawns to further their petty political interests”, PTI reports.
4.33 pm: The BJP has issued a statement asking everyone to heed the advice of the prime minister and Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, against indulging in violence, PTI reports.
4.22 pm: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi and other Congress leaders are sitting on a symbolic protest near India Gate against police action on students at Jamia Millia Islamia, ANI reports. The other leaders include KC Venugopal, AK Antony, PL Punia and Ahmed Patel.
4.15 pm: “We’ve always encouraged students’ voice and protest,” Jamia Millia Islamia Registrar AP Siddique says, ANI reports. “As far as democratic rights are concerned, Jamia has never denied democratic rights to any student. They’re welcome to voice their concerns, as long as it’s peaceful &within rules & regulations.”
4.05 pm: Calcutta High Court directs state government to file a report on action taken regarding law and order situation in West Bengal, PTI reports.
4.02 pm: “We have information that we might be arrested but we want to make it clear that our demand is withdraw CAA or arrest us,” Bhattacharya had said to supporters at a large gathering ahead of the detentions. Guwahati Police Commissioner Munna Prasad Gupta says the Students Union protestors themselves courted arrest, but have been released now.
3.59 pm: The Assam Police have taken into custody All Assam Students’ Union Chief Advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya and General Secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi during protests in Guwahati, PTI reports. Over a hundred other protestors have also been detained.
3.56 pm: Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police OP Singh says the Aligarh Muslim University will be evacuated in the light of clashes between students and the police on Sunday night, the Hindustan Times reports. Singh’s announcement came after he held a meeting with other top officials over the law and order situation.
3.52 pm: Students of Maulana Azad National Urdu University in Hyderabad and University of Hyderabad have decided to organise a protest near Gachibowli Stadium on Tuesday, The Times of India reports.
3.46 pm: A reporter working for the ANI news agency, Ujjwal Roy, and a cameraperson, Sarabjeet Singh, have been allegedly assaulted while reporting near Jamia Millia Islamia. Delhi Police PRO MS Randhawa says the police force condemns the incident and will take strict action against those responsible.
3.40 pm: Nirmala Sitharaman has claimed that the Congress has been backing “fringe groups” at universities which have “shown Maoist or separatist” tendencies, PTI reports. Sitharaman also claims that protests which have been “fanned” across the country will not derail the government’s economic agenda.
3.33 pm: As many as 21 people have been arrested in connection with the clashes between the police and students of Aligarh Muslim University over the Citizenship Amendment Act, PTI reports quoting a police officer. “We have arrested 21 persons in the matter. Named FIR has been lodged against 56 persons and others unidentified,” Aligarh Senior Superintendent of Police Akash Kulhary says.
3.25 pm: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishen Reddy claims that “some political parties” are promoting violence over the Citizenship Amendment Act, ANI reports. He also asserted that the Citizenship Amendment Act is not against any religion.
3.21 pm: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has said that the entry and exit gates of the Jamia Millia Islamia station have been closed, and trains will not halt at the station.
3.19 pm: The Nationalist Congress Party says that the Centre is muzzling protests against the Citizenship Act through police action against protestors, PTI reports. NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik says videos were circulating on social media which purportedly showed some policemen torching a vehicle. He adds that the Centre should rethink the Citizenship Amendment Act.
3.16 pm: The Delhi Police claim that four DTC buses, 100 private vehicles and 10 police bikes were damaged during the protests, The Times of India reports. However, they add that there were no casualties in the violence.
3.12 pm: Randhawa says local residents of the area also participated in Sunday’s protest, ANI reports. “Our staff showed maximum restraint despite provocations,” he claims. “Around 4:30 pm some protesters went towards Mata Mandir marg and set a bus on fire.”
3.09 pm: Randhawa says over 30 police personnel have been injured, ANI reports. Two station house officers have suffered fractures. One of the personnel is in an Intensive Care Unit. “Two FIRs have been registered for rioting and arsoning,” he adds. “Crime Branch will investigate the matter from all angles.”
3.05 pm: Delhi Police Public Relations Officer MS Randhawa says according to ANI: “When we started pushing rowdy elements, they went inside [Jamia Millia University]. Police also chased them, stones were being pelted at us. We are doing a detailed investigation.”
3 pm: Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav says that the government should either amend the Citizenship Act or repeal it, ANI reports. “I demand that an emergency session of the Parliament should be called, an amendment should be made to the Act to see that no discrimination is done on the basis of religion,” he says.
2.57 pm: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot says the amended Citizenship Act is “impractical”, PTI reports. “It is impractical and therefore it cannot be implemented,” Gehlot says. “Six-seven states have said this. The government should repeal it.”
2.52 pm: BJP workers have begun a protest outside Jadavpur University, ABP Ananda reports. Some BJP workers have also broken barricades that were set up outside the university.
2.44 pm: “BJP should take care of the states it rules in Northeast before lecturing others on law and order,” Banerjee adds according to PTI. Banerjee claims that the Centre has shut down railway services in most of Bengal just because a few trains were set on fire.
2.40 pm: Banerjee says that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also opposed the Citizenship Act, ANI reports. She said that the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Kerala have also said they will not implement the bill.
2.35 pm: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore students have also joined the protest against police crackdown on protestors in Jamia Millia University, The Times of India reports.
2.29 pm: Mamata Banerjee says the Trinamool Congress will protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act until both the Act and the National Register of Citizens are withdrawn, ANI reports. She claims that the BJP’s politics is that only the saffron party should be left in the country. “It will never happen, India belongs to everyone,” Banerjee adds.
2.27 pm: Nadwa College in Lucknow has been closed till January 5, 2020, as protests had broken out at the university against the Citizenship Amendment Act, ANI reports.
2.25 pm: Internet services have been suspended in Assam for another 24 hours, till Tuesday, PTI reports.
2.22 pm: “I am not a Dalit neta, I stand with the Constitution,” Azad adds. “When any force goes against this Constitution and resort to atrocities on anybody, I stand with the oppressed. Just as they students were beaten up in JNU before, this time, its Jamia… So, I am here to let them know I am here to protect their right to protest. This is their democratic right and I won’t let it be curbed.”
2.20 pm: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad has lashed out at the Centre over the Citizenship Act, The Indian Express reports. He says that the Indian Constitution gives all citizens equal rights to stay in the country. “I do not need to take lessons on it from Sangh Parivar, it is in my blood,” he adds.
2.16 pm: Actor Kamal Haasan’s party Makkal Needhi Maiam has filed a plea in the Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act, ANI reports.
2.12 pm: Modi says that the need of the hour is to work for the development of India and empowerment of the poor. “We cannot allow vested interest groups to divide us and create disturbance,” he adds. The prime minister also appeals to all people to stay away from any kind of rumour mongering and falsehood.
2.11 pm: “I want to unequivocally assure my fellow Indians that CAA does not affect any citizen of India of any religion,” the prime minister adds. “No Indian has anything to worry regarding this Act. This Act is only for those who have faced years of persecution outside and have no other place to go except India.”
2.09 pm: Modi says that the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed by both Houses of Parliament with large numbers of political parties and MPs supporting it. “This Act illustrates India’s centuries old culture of acceptance, harmony, compassion and brotherhood,” he claims.
2.07 pm: Modi has tweeted against violent protests across the country. “Violent protests on the Citizenship Amendment Act are unfortunate and deeply distressing,” Modi says. “Debate, discussion and dissent are essential parts of democracy but, never has damage to public property and disturbance of normal life been a part of our ethos.”
2.05 pm: Students from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against police crackdown on students from Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, PTI reports.
2 pm: Students from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences have gathered outside their campus in Mumbai carrying placards with anti-government slogans, PTI reports. “The nation is dying while you are sleeping,” reads one of the placards. The students also shout slogans against what they called “Godi Media” [media that always speaks in favour of the government].
1.56 pm: “Police can’t enter into university premises without permission of vice chancellor,” Azad says according to ABP News. “If they weren’t permitted, how did police, which comes under central government, enter into the campus? We condemn it. There should be a judicial inquiry.”
1.53 pm: Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad says the Centre is responsible for the violence across the country, PTI reports. He says such a situation could have been avoided if the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill had not been passed.
“It is the central government which is solely responsible for the violence in the country for bringing a law which is being opposed all over the country and by all opposition political parties,” Azad says.
1.48 pm: Army Commander Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan has expressed hope that military columns deployed in Assam will return to barracks “in a day or two” as the situation in the state is improving, PTI reports. He says that it was the prerogative of the state administration to seek assistance of the Army to restore law and order.
1.43 pm: Students from three Indian Institutes of Technology – IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras and IIT Bombay – have joined the protests against the Citizenship Act, PTI reports. “Our commitment towards the students’ community is under huge jeopardy if we don’t respond now,” a poster by students from IIT Kanpur says. “ Therefore let’s come together for a campus wide march in solidarity with students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University.”
1.40 pm: Students of Jadavpur University in Kolkata have organised protests in solidarity with the students at the Jamia Millia Islamia, PTI reports. The students have taken out a protest rally outside the university campus condemning the police action and denouncing the amended Citizenship Act.
1.35 pm: The registrar of Jamia Millia Islamia University says the administration cannot confirm or deny all rumours that are being spread, ANI reports. There were rumours that the Delhi Police entered the mosque at the campus and also sexually assaulted women students.
1.30 pm: Banerjee’s march has begun from Red Road in Kolkata, and it is set to culminate at the Jorasakho Thakur Bari, the residence of Rabindranath Tagore, PTI reports. “We will never allow NRC and CAA in Bengal,” Banerjee says as she reads out an ‘oath’ for her party workers.
1.19 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee takes out a protest march against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens in Kolkata, ANI reports.
1.15 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says she does not know what happened at Jamia Millia Islamia University on Sunday night, PTI reports. “We must be wary of jihadists, Maoists, separatists getting into student protests,” she claims.
1.11 pm: Inspector General of Police (Zone 1) Clay Khongsai says that people should carry on with their daily activities and not to participate in any strike, PTI reports.
1.09 pm: The Manipur Police has warned that action will be taken against people if they damage public property or put up road blockades during the 12-hour strike called by Left parties on December 19 to protest against the Citizenship Act, PTI reports.
1 pm: The Centre has published helpline numbers of central and state security and relief forces present in Assam, for people to seek help in the wake of protests against the Citizenship Act, PTI reports.
For the state-level emergency operation centre in Dispur, the numbers are 1079 and 9401044617. For the district emergency operation centre at Kamrup, the numbers are 1077 and (0361) 2733052.
12.14 pm: Former Assam Chief Minister and Asom Gana Parishad leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta says they will not support the amended law, reports ANI. “Everyone is opposing it,” he adds. “It will violate Assam Accord and make indigenous people of Assam, a minority here. AGP opposes it. We will go to Supreme Court.”
11.59 am: National Commission for Minorities chairman Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi says the amended Citizenship Act is not against Muslims and hence no protest was needed. “If at all they’re protesting, it should be done peacefully,” he tells ANI. “If Commission feels the need to issue notice, it’ll be done.”
11.50 am: Bahujan Samaj Party President Mayawati calls the violence at Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia unfortunate, and demands a judicial inquiry.
“UP and Central governments should get a high level judicial inquiry conducted into such incidents so as to ensure that original culprits do not go scot free,” she adds. “The police and administration should also act impartially. Otherwise, this fire can spread very badly across the country, especially in educational institutions.”
11.38 am: At the joint protest in Kerala, Chief Minister P Vijayan says, “If you say that minorities cannot be given citizenship, no matter who says it, it won’t be accepted in Kerala. Kerala government is accountable to the Constitution and not the agenda which is being put forward by the RSS.”
11.37 am: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh asks the Centre to repeal the amendments to the Citizenship Act. “Disturbed by reports from Delhi in the wake of anti CAB protests....urge [Home Minister] Amit Shah and [Delhi CM] Arvind Kejriwal to do all it takes to bring the situation under control and prevent it from escalating further,” Singh tweets.
11.35 am: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan urges protestors to not indulge in violence, reports PTI. “We have no right to take law in our hands,” he tells reporters in Kochi. “If that happens, that I am not judge... I am not judging anything. But then the law says that the police is for that purpose only... the armed forces are for that purpose only. That if somebody tries to create a situation whereby demonstration of physical force is used to impose their views, then we have these forces.”
11.31 am: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi calls the amended Citizenship Act and the National Register of Citizens “weapons of mass polarisation”. He adds: “The best defence against these dirty weapons is peaceful, non violent satyagraha. I stand in solidarity with all those protesting peacefully against the CAB & NRC.”
11.10 am: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi has lashed out at the Narendra Modi government, calling it cowardly. “The police is entering universities and thrashing students,” she tweeted earlier this morning. “At a time when this government should come forth and listen to the people, the BJP government is oppressing students and journalists in the northeast, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. This is a government of cowards.”
11.03 am: Suspension of internet services has been extended till Tuesday morning in 10 districts of Assam – Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Kamrup (Metro) and Kamrup, reports ANI.
10.59 am: Supreme Court has agreed to hear petitions challenging the amended Citizenship Act on Wednesday, reports Live Law.
10.57 am: The Supreme Court says it will not hear the petitions “if protest, violence and destruction of public properties go on”.
10.55 am: Supreme Court says it will hear on Tuesday petitions against violence faced by students in Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh, reports NDTV. “This has to be decided when things cool down,” Live Law quotes Chief Justice of India SA Bobde as saying. “This is not the frame of mind when we can decide anything. Let the rioting stop. Public property is being destroyed. Court can’t do anything right now. Let the riots stop.”
10.40 am: Youth Congress workers have waved black flags at Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla in protest against the Citizenship Act, reports PTI. Heptulla was on her way to board a flight to Lakshadweep from the Nedumbassery airport when the incident occurred.
10.39 am: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee not to take to the streets against the amended citizenship law, saying she should desist from “unconstitutional and inflammatory” actions. “I am extremely anguished that CM and Ministers are to spearhead rally against CAA, law of the land,” he tweets.
10.20 am: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is leading a joint protest against the Citizenship Act in Thiruvananthapuram along with Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress, reports ANI.
10.13 am: Internet services remain suspended in six districts in West Bengal – Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and parts of South 24 Parganas – even as the Trinamool Congress gears up to hold rallies against the amended citizenship law, reports PTI.
In East Midnapore and Murshidabad, agitators have blocked roads since the morning. Several trains have been cancelled or delayed due to the protests. Demonstrators have blocked the tracks on the Sealdah-Diamond Harbour and Sealdah-Namkhana sectors.
10.11 am: Curfew has been relaxed in Guwahati in Assam from 6 am to 9 pm. However, night curfew will remain in place, reports PTI. In Dibrugarh district, curfew has been eased off from 6 am to 8 pm.
10.10 am: The Congress has lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for addressing election rallies in Jharkhand but not criticising the “violence on students” in Delhi.