Clashes in Kerala; stirs continue across varsities
CHENNAI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Three members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) were injured in a clash with members of the Students Federation of India (SFI) at the Sree Kerala Varma College at Thrissur, Kerala, over a seminar in support of the amended citizenship laws, police said on Wednesday.
Largely peaceful protests against the new Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, and the police action against students from Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia, were carried out in various cites across the country, including Chennai, Coimbatore, Kolkata, Dehradun, Lucknow and Mumbai.
In Thissur, the ABVP released a video of the alleged attack in which a student is being chased by some other students who pin him against a wall and thrash him. A woman is also seen being beaten in the alleged attack.
According to the ABVP, the student wing of the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), its members had organised a seminar in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, on Monday but were forced to hold it outside the college due to an alleged threat by SFI workers.
The SFI said the video told only one side of the story.
“Tension gripped the college since the ABVP tried to conduct a seminar on Monday. On the first day our workers were attacked by ABVP activists. The incident caught on camera was biased,” said SFI state secretary Sachin Dev.
In Chennai, 17 students of Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, were detained by the police for attempting to block a convoy of Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal
Purohit, who was scheduled to attend the university’s convocation.
The students were protesting against the police action against students of Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia on Sunday.
Police said of the 17 detained, 11 were girls and all of them were taken to Thondamuthur Police station for inquiry. They were released later in the day.
One of the detained students, Selvam, said the police suspected that the protests could spread, and did not allow anyone near the administrative block. “Our plan was to block the Governor’s vehicle. But, we were removed from the spot before that,” he said.
Several students at the Madras University in Chennai continued their protests against CAA for the third day on Wednesday.
Strict police deployment was reported at the main campus of the varsity.
Makkal Needhi Maiam chief and renowned actor Kamal Haasan visited the varsity premises and expressed solidarity with the protesting students.
Haasan was, however, not allowed to enter the main campus and spoke to the agitating students from behind the main gate of the university, opposite the Marina Beach.
Students of the New College in Chennai also held protests.at PSG Arts and Science College in Coimbatore, students staged a protest in their campus, and a similar protest was held at the Sacred Heart College, Thirupattur.
No violence was reported from other educational institutions even as protests continued in several places, including Kolkata, Dehradun, Lucknow and Mumbai.
The sit-in by students of Jadavpur University and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in West Bengal, in protest against police action inside the Jamia campus, continued for the third day.
Also, students of a private college and a group of lawyers belonging to the All India Lawyers Union and People’s Union of Civil Liberties staged a demonstration near the Coimbatore district complex.