The police crackdown on students of Jamia Millia Islamia and boiling anger against the amended Citizenship Act fuelled fresh protests in the national capital on Monday with Congress and several other opposition parties rallying behind the agitators.
Thousands of students took to the streets against the alleged police excesses on Jamia students on Sunday evening and over the new legislation, claiming that it will weaken India's secular foundations and damage its social fabric.
Though there was no report of violence, the magnitude of protest grew manifold with students holding separate demonstrations at multiple places including India Gate, Jantar Mantar, Delhi University and Jamia.
"I don't feel safe in this country. I don't know where I will go. I don't know if tomorrow my friends will be Indians," said an agitated student.
Jamia campus had turned into a battlefield on Sunday as police entered the campus and used force, following a violent protest against the law. The police action triggered protests in several leading universities and institutions across India.
The Congress and several opposition political parties condemned the alleged police "brutality" against Jamia students and demanded a judicial inquiry into it.
Congress leaders led by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a sit-in at the India Gate, in a show of solidarity with the students from Jamia Millia Islamia and several other universities who have been protesting the contentious law.
After a two-hour silent protest from 4 pm, the Congress general secretary said the police crackdown on Jamia students was an attack on the soul of India.
"This country is for everyone, it is for all those students who were beaten up yesterday. Attack on students is an attack on the soul of India," she said.
She alleged that the citizenship amendment law was against India's Constitution and that it was brought to "destroy" the Constitution.
"Each and every Congress worker will fight against Modi government which is turning dictatorial," said Priyanka Gandhi, wondering why Prime Minister Narendra Modi is silent on assault on women, economy, joblessness and what happened yesterday against students.
The Congress general secretary was joined at the protest by leaders like Ahmed Patel, A K Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Randeep Singh Surjewala, besides hundreds of party workers.
"The country's atmosphere is bad. Police is entering university to beat up (students). The government has tinkered with the Constitution. We will fight for the Constitution," she said.
At a press conference, Congress leaders Azad and Kapil Sibal, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja, RJD's Manoj Jha, SP's Javed Ali Khan and Sharad Yadav condemned Sunday's police action against Jamia students.
Azad also rejected the charges levelled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Congress was behind the violent protests. "It is wrong to make such accusations and we condemn it," he said.
Yechury demanded a probe by a Supreme Court judge in the incident. "Whoever gave the permission to allow the police to enter the Jamia campus should be brought to book and punished," he said.
Opposition politicians and activists say the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was passed last week by Parliament, is an attempt to divide the country along religious lines as it grants citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from the three neighbouring countries. They say such a preference is unconstitutional.
As many as 50 detained students of Jamia were released even as the situation in the campus remained tense with scores of hostel students leaving for home. University Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar demanded a high-level inquiry into the police action on Sunday after a protest against the amended Citizenship Act turned violent.
Delhi Police said that the crime branch will investigate the violence in which four DTC buses, 100 private vehicles and 10 police bikes were damaged and asserted that it used "maximum restraint, minimum force" despite being "provoked" by protesters.
Several students of Delhi University boycotted exams and held protest outside the Arts Faculty in North Campus even as a large number of police personnel were deployed by authorities to prevent any flare up.
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