Chants of 'CAA se azaadi' as students hold protest march in AMU

Hundreds of students took out a protest march against the amended citizenship act on the Aligarh Muslim University campus here on Tuesday rasing slogans of 'CAA se azaadi' and vowing to boycott classes until their demands are met.

The protesters including girls and schoolchildren, belonging to the schools within the campus, began their march from the Purani Chungi and culminated it at the Babey Sir Syed gate of the university.

They also raised slogans in support of Delhi's Shaheen Bagh protesters and the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

'Shaheen Bagh Zindabad (Long live Shaheen Bagh)' and 'JNU tum sangharsh karo hum tumahre saath hain (keep fighting JNU, we are with you)' rent the air along with the chants of 'CAA se azaadi' (freedom from CAA) and 'BJP se azaadi' (freedom from BJP).

The university was closed early for winter vacations from December 16, a day after students clashed with police during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on campus. It was to reopen on January 6 but the vacation was extended owing to persisting tension over the changes in the citizenship law.

It is reopening in phases from Monday.

But after the university reopened on January 13, agitation against the law has been going on and students have devised innovative ways to protest peacefully.

"Our protests are peaceful and we will continue to boycott classes and exams till our demands are met," former president of AMU students union, Faizul Hasan, told newspersons.

The students have constructed a dummy 'detention centre' -- made of cardboard and wood plank -- on the dharna site to underline the concerns and fears of some section of the populace on the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC), he said.

The protesting students have written slogans on the walls near the protest site.

'When oppression becomes a law, resistance becomes a duty,' reads one of the slogans.

'Shah and Modi are not India, the BJP is not parliament,' reads another.

The AMU authorities had on Monday announced a revised examination schedule from January 27 including for those in the Unani medicine and engineering courses.

However, students have announced that they will not relent, Hasan said.

Girls at the Abdullah College had on Monday taken taken out a separate protest march, demanding action against policemen involved in December 15 crackdown on students protesting on the campus.

They also demanded resignation of top university officials including vice chancellor, registrar and the proctor.

Meanwhile, police have booked 60 unidentified women for attempting to take out a procession in Dodhpur locality on Friday against CAA.

Circle officer Anil Samania said they have been booked under section 188 for violating prohibitory orders. He said it was a preventive step to stop possible breach of peace.