On winter breaks, the hostels of Jamia Millia Islamia usually buzz with activity as many students stay back to prepare for competitive exams. But not this time.
Of the around 600 students residing in seven blocks of the boys hostel, more than 90 per cent have left the campus since the university declared holidays following violence over the controversial citizenship law and the National Register of Citizens on Sunday.
"Ab CAB aya hai, to ghar ja rahe hain. Jab NRC ayega to kahan jayenge (Now CAB has come and we're heading home. Where will we go when NRC will be implemented)?" says 20-year-old Mohammad Anas as another student left Jamia boys' hostel for his home in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut on Tuesday.
While the women's hostels were completely empty and the rooms were locked, only a few towels had been hung out to dry in the gallery and hardly any student was visible on the roads leading to the hostel.
The walls of the hostel blocks carry anti-CAA and anti-NRC slogans, spray-painted in black, blue and maroon.
"Usually, the hostlers stay back and utilise the winter break to prepare for competitive exams, complete research work and do internships," Anas, who hail's from Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district, said. "This time, it's a different matter altogether."
Only those who do not have money to travel or do not have a confirmed ticket are still here, he said. "We hope our children remain safe."
Pointing at the three men sipping tea in the hostel's canteen, the caretaker said: "This is the first time I have this canteen so empty. It would bustle with activity, especially in the evening and at night."
"It's not that easy to travel to and fro Kashmir in winter at such short notice," Shafi said. "Flights get cancelled on a daily basis. People book tickets well in advance."