The CAB: Students across states protest against ‘communal’ Bill

NEW DELHI: Amid ongoing protests in Assam and Tripura against the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 (CAB), groups of university students across India are holding demonstrations against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).

Passed by the Lok Sabha on December 9 and Rajya Sabha on December 11, students describe the Bill as a “threat to the secular fabric of the country”.

The Bill has incited anger in different groups for using religion as factor for granting citizenship. The Bill has also excluded Muslims from the list of persecuted minorities that will be eligible for citizenship.

Different institutions

In Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, various student bodies have jointly called for a protest today, December 12, against the “communal” Citizenship Amendment Bill. A statement collectively signed by different student bodies said: “The CAB’s exclusionary nature is a direct threat to the secular fabric of the Indian Constitution”.

The students argued that it is a violation of Articles 14 and 15 of the Indian Constitution which guarantees equal status and protection by law irrespective of religion.

Students and faculty of Delhi University have also called for a protest today to “reject the unconstitutional, illegal, communal Citizenship Amendment Bill”. The Aligarh Muslim University Students' Union has decided to march from Jama Masjid, AMU, to the district magistrate's office after Friday prayers on December 13. The Press Trust of India reported that First Information Reports, or FIR, were filed against 500 AMU students for violating section 144 by demonstrating against CAB on Tuesday, December 10. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code prohibits the assembly of more than four people in an area.

Meanwhile, TheTelegraph reports that Gauhati University and Cotton University in Assam have postponed all undergraduate and postgraduate exams scheduled in this week. In Assam, Section 144 was imposed and internet has been shut down for 24 hours as the state saw an eruption of protests. In Assam, residents fear having to bear most of the burden of immigrants.

TISS, IIPS students protesting against CAB

‘Against the idea of India’

In Panjab University, students burnt copies of CAB and raised slogans like “death to fascism and communalism” on Wednesday, December 11. They said that the Bill was an attack on the broader masses of different nationalities in India who deny the politics of ‘Hindi-Hindu-Hindutva’, theTimes of India reports.

In Jadavpur University, students protested yesterday, December 11, by burning copies of the bill and calling it “against the idea of India which is not for any one religion but for all religions”, reported Republic Tv.

Meanwhile, theTimes of India reports that 25,000 students in 19 hostels in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) protested against the bill by skipping their meals.

In Mumbai, students of Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Indian Institute of Population Sciences jointly protested on Monday, December 10. The students said that “the bill violated the basic spirit of the constitution” and that it “violates article 14 of the constitution which guarantees right to equality”.

Update: The story has been updated to include the latest announcement by the Aligarh Muslim University Students' Union.

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