Almost a week ago, on December 09, 2019, the Lok Sabha voted in favour of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill. Following this, the Rajya Sabha also voted in favour of the bill on December 11, 2019.
And on December 12, 2019, after receiving the President’s assent, the Citizenship Bill became an act. However, across India, people have been protesting against the act.
From the time the bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, and even after it became an act, the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act has not been supported by a section of the society.
Here’s a timeline of the incidents and protests that have taken place across India, since the introduction of the bill:
As the bill was passed by both the houses, protests began across the country. #NoToCab began trending on Twitter as people took to social media to comment on the contentious bill.
Even as the bill got the president’s assent, the protests continued to grow across the country, especially in the North-eastern states of Assam, Tripura, and Meghalaya where the internet wast shutdown, Section 144 was imposed and the region was put under curfew.
While the majority of protests, by the opposition and in other parts of the country, are for the specific exclusion of one religious group (Muslims), in Assam the protests are against amendments introduced. Because the amendments are reportedly in violation of the Assam Accord of 1985. In layman terms, granting citizenship to illegal immigrants of any religious identity is a violation of the Assam accord.
In Assam, the protests took a violent turn as protestors called for the boycott of the Indo-Japan summit in the city, while also protesting outside the houses of MLAs.
However, in a clash between the police and the protestors in Assam, some civilians–including a 17-year-old minor–also lost their lives.
At the same time, an advisory was issued to the Indian media to be careful about information which may contain ‘anti-national attitudes’.
Simultaneously, the Japan PM Shinzo Abe canceled his visit to India. Soon after, a travel advisory was issued by US, UK and other countries, warning their citizens against traveling to India.
Meanwhile, protests took place across various parts of India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Bhopal, Hyderabad, and many other cities. For the most part, these protests were peaceful in nature.
However, on December 15, 2019, the internet was suspended in parts of West Bengal as violent protests against CAA continued for the third day in a row.
At the same time, a blame game also started between political leaders, witch each party blaming the other for contributing to the protests, rather than maintaining law and order.
However, on December 15, 2019, as students from Jamia University in Delhi continued to protest, the protests took an unexpectedly violent turn. In the middle of the protests, a bus was burnt in Delhi. Following this, there was stone pelting by police and protestors in various areas.
The group of Jamia students released a statement, disassociating themselves with the violence. However, armed police officers barged inside the university campus and launched an allegedly unprovoked attack. Exits and entries to 11 metro stations were closed.
Various people took to social media to share instances of police brutality, which included launching tear gas in a library (an enclosed space), firing bullets at the students, and detaining over 50 students.
Allegedly, some of the students dragged and detained by the police personnel were not a part of the protest, but actually studying in the library. Students were also made to raise their hands and leave the hostels/campus late at night.
The detained students were released the next day, but as per the statements released by the lawyers, the students were allegedly abused (sexually and physically) when detained.
Various authorities from Jamia stated that the police had no permission to enter the universities, and it was an unprovoked act on the staff and students.
Amidst the clash between the police and the students, certain reporters were also hurt and mistreated by the police. However, certain police officers were also injured during the protests.
As a result, many students marched to the ITO to protest at the police HQ against police presence at the university, and the consequent violence.
Here also, political parties indulged in a blame game rather than actively work to control the violence.
At the same time, students of Aligarh Muslim University were also protesting against the CAB. Consequently, protests took a violent turn in AMU as well, where videos of police personnel attacking with weapons, other than tear gas, surfaced on the internet. The videos also showed that bikes were vandalized by police personnel.
Additionally, students from various universities across India, including but not limited to BHU, TISS, IIT-Bombay, JNU, etc. came out in support of the Jamia students.
Today, on December 16, 2019, 7 days after the bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha, the protests continue to rage across India. The students of Jamia University formed a human chain to once again, peacefully protest, against the CAA.
According to ANI, the police personnel claimed that they acted to control the violence incited by the protesting mob. The Supreme Court stated that it will look into the matter, but only if the violence comes to a halt.
Currently, both Jamia and AMU have been closed until the first week of January 2020. Certain schools have also been closed in Okhla, Jamia and New Friends Colony. The entry and exit gates for Jamia Millia Islamia metro station also remain closed. Additionally, the internet was shut down in Meerut, Aligarh, West Bengal, and other regions in India.
Amidst the ongoing protests, PM Modi also tweeted about the CAA and asked people to maintain peace.
With the way the events are unfolding across the nation, it does not look like the debate around CAA will die anytime soon.