Opposition parties today attacked the Narendra Modi government over the police action against students in the Jamia Millia Islamia University and the Aligarh Muslim University and demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the alleged police atrocities on the students of Jamia who were protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
“Delhi Police comes under the Centre, so the Modi government has to answer how the police entered the campus (Jamia Millia University) without the permission of the Vice-Chancellor, went inside the library and even the students' washrooms. A judicial inquiry should be held into the incident to fix accountability,” said Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad.
He said that the students' protests were part of largescale agitations being held all over the country against the “unconstitutional” CAA and held PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah responsible for the situation. He denied the allegation made by Modi that the Congress was instigating the protests, saying, “If the Congress had that kind of strength, Modi would not be the prime minister.”
The press conference was held impromptu in Delhi after a telephonic discussion amongst them on the largescale protests in campuses against CAA and the alleged police high-handedness in dealing with the agitation.
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury expressed concern over three central universities being in turmoil and demanded to know on whose orders Delhi Police entered the Jamia campus. “The Home Minister is directly in charge of police. Where is he? He is not be seen over the last two days?” he said.
Yechury called the CAA a “direct affront” to the Constitution, noting that religion cannot be citizenship and said his party will organise a movement against the amendment all over the country.
D. Raja, National Secretary of the CPI, said there was a civil war-like situation in the country. “Jammu and Kashmir was thrown into turmoil by the abrogation of Article 370. And now, after the enactment of CAA, the whole country is in turmoil,” he said.
The Left parties have given a call for nationwide protests against CAA on December 19.
“A single-judge commission of the Supreme Court should be set up to probe into how the decision to act against the students was taken,” said Congress' Kapil Sibal.
Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha, of the RJD, said his party has given a call for Bihar Bandh on December 21 to protest against CAA. “The state cannot perpetually be at war against the youth and the students,” he noted.
Javed Ali of the Samajwadi Party claimed that while incidents of arson took place around three kilometres away from the Jamia university, the police cracked down on the students, who were inside the campus.
