In a latest development to the ongoing countywide protests against the contentious CAA, a total of 185 students have been arrested while they were going to protest at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan. These students were going to stage a protest against the contentious CAA and the communal riots that recently took place in the northeastern parts of Delhi.
According to the police, the protesting students have been detained from deferent parts of the city and have been taken to different police stations in the NCR. These detained students were however released shortly.
A total off 185 students were detained and arrested and taken to the police stations of Kamla Market, Hari Nagar and Bawana according to the Deputy Commissioner of Police(Central) Sanjay Bhatia.
Students however claimed that not just 185 but several hundreds of them had been detained from different locations in the city.
Around 200 students had gathered at the Jantar Mantar on Tuesday morning in response to a protest call given by the Young India Coordination Committee, which comprises of members from different student bodies. Former IAS officer and activist Kanan Gopiathan was also present at the protest. The police chose to detain the protesting students from walking towards the Ramlila Maidan to participate in a protest march against the Citizenship Amendment Law and regarding the communal violence that had shaken the Capital only a week ago. Police responded by saying that they were being compelled to detain the students because they simply didn’t have the permission to stage the protest. Former JNUSU President N Sai Balaji was leading the march and said that an application for permission had been submitted on February 27. And that they were informed only on Monday that their application has been rejected by the authorities. Since it was a last minute intimation it was almost impossible to cancel the protest or postpone in to another date. Late, the students who gathered at Jantar Mantar were seen raising many slogans condemning the government’s actions and demanded the resignation of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the context of the riots that had broken out in Delhi last week.
