CAA protests: Situation tense in Jamia Millia campus, many students decide to leave for home

New Delhi, Dec 16: The situation in Jamia Millia Islamia, which witnessed protests against the amended Citizenship Act, remained tense on Monday morning and many students decided to leave for their homes, sources said.

The university had turned into a battlefield on Sunday as police entered the campus and also used force, following protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which led to violence and arson.

According to sources, the situation continues to be tense with many women students preferring to leave the campus for their homes. Many students feel they are not safe even inside the campus. The varsity had declared winter vacation from Saturday till January 5 and even postponed the exams.

Earlier in the day, as many as 50 students, who were detained during protests at the Jamia Millia Islamia University here on Sunday, were released in the early hours of Monday, police said.

Of the 50 students, 35 were released from the Kalkaji police station and 15 from the New Friends Colony police station, a senior police officer said.

Earlier on Sunday night, the Delhi Minority Commission (DMC) issued a direction to the SHO of Kalkaji Police Station to release the "injured" Jamia students held there or take them for treatment at a reputed hospital without any delay. The commission also directed the officer to file a compliance report by 3 pm on Monday.

In the order, DMC Chairman Zafarul Islam Khan said failure to implement it will attract appropriate action. Protesters torched four public buses and two police vehicles as they clashed with the police in New Friends Colony, near Jamia Millia Islamia, during a demonstration against the amended Citizenship Act on Sunday, leaving nearly 60 people including students, cops and firefighters injured.

Police used batons and teargas shells to disperse the violent mob but denied firing at them. However, videos of purported police firing, injured students in the university bathroom as well as footage of them bleeding emerged on the social media.

But Delhi Police refuted reports of any casualty during the clashes. Following the arson on roads, police entered the Jamia university campus, where tension prevailed as several persons were detained for alleged involvement in the violence.