Stone-pelting, tear gas as CAB protest turns violent

New Delhi: A protest called by the Jamia Teachers' Association (JTA), over the Citizen (Amendment) Bill (CAB), which was joined by hundreds of students from Jamia Millia Islamia University, took a violent turn after the police

tried to stop the protesting students near Jamia Stadium gate number 1.

The march, planned by the students from the campus, was initially slated to go till the Parliament but was stopped by the police near gate number 1, following which the students tried to step over the barricades. "We were peacefully protesting when the police started using force to disperse us. They lathi-charged us and injured around 70 students," said Ainaz, a member of Jamia students' organisation.

The moment police used lathi, students started resorting to stone-pelting, where police in turn threw stones at us as well. But when more students joined and started throwing stones, the police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. The stand-off between the students and the police went on for over couple of hours.

During stone pelting many journalists were also hurt, who were immediately assisted to a waiting ambulance. Meanwhile, many police personnel were also injured. "In this incident, 12 police personnel were injured and two of them with relatively serious injuries are under observation in ICU," said a statement from the Delhi Police.

The police had also detained 40 to 50 students, whom they say have been freed. "The protesters who were coming from Jamia University Delhi, were persuaded to protest peacefully and requested not to march towards New Delhi area. However, they got agitated and aggressively confronted police personnel. They broke barricades and resorted to stone-pelting at police personnel which also caused damage to parked vehicles. Police had to lob tear gas shells with use of limited force to disperse the protesters. 42 protesters were detained and subsequently released," said Delhi Police PRO Anil Mittal. The students were protesting against the recently passed CAB. "This Bill is planned to create a divide between different communities in the country. We want this government to take back this Bill," said a protesting student.

JTA member, Professor Maji told Millennium Post that the teachers had asked for a demonstration inside the university only. "There was a long march called by the students, teachers were not a part of it. When the students were peacefully marching, they were stopped by the police," he said.

After the stand-off both the students and the police came to an agreement, and the students continued their protest on the road outside the campus.

Meanwhile, former Rajya Sabha member Parvez Hashmi tried to console the agitated crowd. "We are with the students. The police had used violence and we do not agree with it," he told reporters. The violence sparked heavy criticism upon the police with political parties and university alumni condemning the attack.