Citizenship Act: Jamia students call off lockdown; university announces vacation till January 5

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill: The controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed by the Cabinet. The bill, which seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal immigrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, eligible for Indian citizenship, sparked widespread protests across the country.

Jamia Millia Islamia students called off their university lockdown against the new citizenship law on December 14, a day after violent protests rocked the campus area, even as the varsity cancelled exams and announced vacation till January 5 in view of the tension.

The university administration said those who indulged in violence and clashed with police on December 13 were "outsiders" and not students.

Jamia students, teachers and alumni, said they have formed a coordination panel to hold peaceful protests against the amended Citizenship Act. They say the law is discriminatory.

The university had turned into a virtual battlefield on December 13 when students and policemen clashed with each other as students tried to march to Parliament in protest against the legislation. The students had called for a lockdown of the university on December 14 and planned to boycott exams.

Police have registered a case of rioting and obstructing government servants from performing duty against unidentified persons in connection with the protest.

A senior university official said all exams at the university have been postponed and new dates will be announced in due course. The official said vacation has been declared from December 16 to January 5 and the university will reopen on January 6 next year.

"The university would like to clarify and put the incident in proper perspective as to who was involved and why this happened. Thousands of people from nearby localities assembled at the site of the protest along with a section of students," the university official said.

"The outsiders who have nothing to do with the university clashed with the police and not the students. In fact, the students tried to stop them from doing so. Students were caught in clashes resulting in injuries to some of them," the official said.

Earlier on December 14, before the university announced the decision to postponed exams, students shared their experience during the violent clash on December 13.

"Jamia will raise voice if anything wrong happens to our nation. We have boycotted classes and exams. We will march again and again for our rights," Nihal Ashraf, a 25-year-old student.

Wajahat, a 22-year-old student of BA Political Science, said, "On December 13, the Delhi Police brutally attacked us while we were marching and many students got injured. They used batons and tear gas against students. We have boycotted the exam."

"Everyone wants to live. This is not Israel or Syria. We should learn from Bangladesh how they killed extremism and opted for economic democracy. The government is not focusing on main issues," said Pappu Yadav, another student.

Jamia Teachers' Association had also called an emergency meeting of the Executive Committee to discuss measures ahead of their protest against the contentious legislation.