Protest at Urdu varsity in solidarity with Jamia students

Students of Moulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) boycotted their examinations to stage protests on Monday in solidarity with the students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University.

The day-long protest by students remained peaceful with police keeping a tight vigil from outside the campus.

The students did not try to come out of the campus but squatted at the main gate since morning. They shut the gate from inside to prevent faculty and non-teaching staff from entering the campus, insisting that they also sit with them on protest.

A few faculty members addressed the students, condemning the police action on the students of Jamila Millia Islamia (JMI) and also Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

"Inquilab Zinadabad', 'Save democracy' and 'Sanghis quit India' read the placards carried by the protesters, who were raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Dozens of students shouted slogans like 'Dictatorship nahi chalegi, tana shahi nahi chalegi', 'we are with Jamia and AMU'.

The students of India's first and only Urdu university began the protest late Sunday night, hours after police action on Jamia campus in Delhi and subsequently in AMU.

Boycotting the exams, which were scheduled to begin on Monday, the students joined the protest. The Controller of Examination postponed the exams following a request by MANNU Students' Union and the prevailing situation on the campus.

Meanwhile, the Students' Union has urged the Controller of Examination to resume the exams from December 18 so that the academic activities are not hampered. It said the peaceful and democratic protest against CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC) will continue.

MANUU Students' Union, which organized the protest, demanded immediate withdrawal of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

"We are also demanding that the government of India drop its plans for NRC. This will prove a failure across India just like it failed in Assom," Shaik Umer Faruq Quadri told IANS.

He said MANUU students had been protesting against CAA for last few days. "Protest against this discriminatory legislation is our democratic and Constitutional right," he said.

The Union also demanded action against the policemen who entered JMI and AMU campuses and attacked the students. "They did not even spare girl students. They are creating an atmosphere of fear," he said.

MANUU has over 4,000 on-campus students, more than half of them hostellers. The students come from various parts of the country including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir.IANS