SC refuses to stay Citizenship Act, sends notice to Centre, to examine validity of law on Jan 22
Protests have erupted across the nation against the Citizenship Act with violence and arson emerging from different parts of Delhi, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and the northeastern states of Assam, Tripura and Manipur.
SNS Web | New Delhi | December 18, 2019 12:16 pm
Supporters and activists of Trinamool Congress participate in a mass rally to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). (Photo: AFP)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the Government on a batch of pleas challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
The apex court will take up the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the controversial law on January 22.
A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde, Justice BR Gavai and Justice Surya Kant refused to stay the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, saying it will hear the pleas in January next year.
Declining to stay the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the three-judge bench said: “We will have to see whether the Act has to be stayed”.
Protests have erupted across the nation with violence and arson emerging from different parts of Delhi, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and the northeastern states of Assam, Tripura and Manipur.
The campus protests have gained massive support across the nation after Delhi Police tear-gassed students of Jamia Millia Islamia University on Sunday night without any permission from the campus authorities.
The protest against Citizenship Act turned violent on Sunday in the evening in southeast Delhi’s Mathura Road after the agitators resorted to arson and police used force practically turning the area into a war zone, leaving nearly 60 people including students, cops and firefighters injured.
Following police action at Jamia Millia, protests also erupted at Aligarh Muslim University, Hyderabad’s Moulana Azad National Urdu University, Banaras Hindu University and Lucknow’s Nadwa College.
According to the new law, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, till December 31, 2014, facing religious persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.
The opposition parties have termed the legislation as “unconstitutional” which “is aimed at diverting attention from the burning issues of the common people”.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJP has said that agitations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) are 100 per cent politically sponsored as some parties are trying to draw a wedge between Hindus and Muslims and that “no citizen needs to fear from NRC and CAA”.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would not rely on either news reports or newspapers while arriving at judicial decisions in cases connected with violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The apex court also refused to set up a committee of a retired apex court judge to inquire into the allegations of police atrocities against students and incidents of violence during protests against CAA at Aligarh and Jamia universities and asked the petitioners to approach respective high courts with their grievances.
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CAA protests: 6 arrested for arson, violence in Northeast Delhi; Section 144 imposed
On Tuesday, a total of 34 people, including 12 policemen and a few children, were injured in violence that erupted during a protest in Seelampur.
SNS Web | New Delhi | December 18, 2019 11:23 am
Protesters react after tear gas was fired by police during a demonstration against new citizenship law in New Delhi. (Photo: AFP)
As many as six people have been arrested and three cases registered in connection with Tuesday’s arson and violence during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 in Delhi’s northeast area of Seelampur.
The three cases filed are for violence in Seelampur, Jafarabad and Brijpuri.
The police have registered cases of arson, rioting, damage to public property, unlawful assembly and causing grievous hurt and detained five people from Seelampur.
The officer further pointed out that they have identified more than two dozen miscreants who indulged in violence and torching public properties.
Raids are being conducted to apprehend some other people who have also been identified.
Meanwhile, Section-144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has been imposed in Northeast Delhi.
On Tuesday, a total of 34 people, including 12 policemen and a few children, were injured in violence that erupted during a protest in Seelampur. The police also claimed that three personnel of Rapid Action Force (RAF) were injured. A cop was thrashed and his wireless set snatched.
Police maintained that no bullet has been fired. Only tear gas shells were used. Two public transport buses, one Rapid Action Force bus and some bikes were damaged during the protest.
Angry protestors torched several motorbikes, pelted stones at police personnel and damaged buses and a police booth in the Seelampur area.
While the situation was brought under control by late afternoon, few incidents in the area were reported till late at night.
The rioters also pelted stones at two buses carrying passengers, injuring at least six passersby and a dozen policemen.
They also targeted a school bus carrying some children, but the police managed to help the children travelling on the bus to de-board and were escorted to safety.
Delhi Police, in a statement, had said that the protest was scheduled in Jaffrabad, North East Delhi at 2 pm. People gathered around 1:15 pm and marched towards Seelampur. Initially, the protest was peaceful but suddenly violence emerged while they were dispersing.
Following Tuesday’s violence, Road No. 13A between Mathura Road-Kalindi Kunj and Okhla underpass going towards Kalindi Kunj have been closed for vehicular movement.
The Traffic Police has advised commuters coming from Noida to take DND Flyway or Akshardham route to reach Delhi.
Similarly, people going to Noida from Mathura road are advised to take Ashram Chowk, DND Flyway or Noida link road. Okhla underpass going towards Kalindi Kunj is also closed for traffic movement.
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Curfew lifted in Guwahati after a week, broadband internet services restored
On December 11, curfew was imposed in Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Tinsukia and a few other cities of Assam and Army was also deployed.
SNS Web | New Delhi | December 17, 2019 6:57 pm
Schools will remain close at a few places in Assam including Kamrup Metro till December 22. (Photo: IANS)
After almost a week, the authorities have lifted the curfew in Guwahati, Assam and restored the broadband internet services on Tuesday as the situation has improved, officials said.
The situation in the state was on boil over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 in Guwahati as massive protests broke out after the government passed the controversial Bill giving ease to apply for citizenship to six non-Muslim communities who migrated from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
On December 11, curfew was imposed in Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Tinsukia and a few other cities of Assam and Army was also deployed.
“The decision to lift the curfew in Guwahati was taken at a law and order review meeting presided over by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal late on Monday evening. In Dibrugarh, the curfew has been relaxed for 14 hours from 6 a.m. on Tuesday,” an Assam Home Department official said.
“The situation would be further reviewed later in the evening.”
He also said that the broadband-based internet services were restored while the suspension of mobile internet would continue till 9 am on Wednesday.
According to a report of IANS, a senior police official told that all the government and private offices, banks and business establishments remain open.
Conditions are reported to be stabilised in the city as the vehicles have also started plying on road.
However, the schools will remain close at a few places in Assam including Kamrup Metro till December 22.
The Chief Public Relations Officer of the Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) Subhanan Chanda said that all efforts are on to fully normalise the train services in the state. He said that 11 local passenger and inter-city trains were running within Assam on Tuesday.
The Airport Authority of India’s (AAI) Regional Executive Director Sanjeev Jindal said that since Sunday, flight services were fully operational in all the 10 airports in northeast India, including six in Assam and one each in Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram.
Earlier, the curfew imposed in Dibrugarh in the wake of major protests across the state over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, was on Tuesday relaxed from 6 am to 8 pm by the district administration.
Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the curfew imposed in Assam will be relaxed only during day time while it will remain in place during the night until the situation is reviewed by the government.
Earlier on Saturday, curfew imposed in Guwahati — which has been a hotbed for violent protests against the citizenship law — was relaxed for seven hours.
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Manipur cabinet extends ‘disturbed area’ status for six more months
The state cabinet has taken a resolution in this connection in its meeting held on Tuesday at the office of the Chief Minister of Manipur.
SNS Web | New Delhi | December 18, 2019 9:56 am
Angry demonstrators go on rampage while protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Guwahati. (File Photo: IANS)
With protests against Citizenship Amendment Act calming down in northeast India, The ”disturbed area” status in Manipur has been extended for another six months from Tuesday, said Th Radheshyam Singh, the state’s Education Minister, at a press conference in Imphal.
He further said that the state cabinet has taken a resolution in this connection in its meeting held on Tuesday at the office of the Chief Minister of Manipur.
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Security beefed up with additional forces in each district, HRFS on standby
Additional forces have been deployed in each of the nine divisions while Heavy Radio Flying Squads (HRFS) have been kept at standby in several sensitive areas, especially in the mixed neighbourhoods.
SNS Web | Kolkata | December 17, 2019 7:46 pm
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee accompanied by party MPs Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty and party workers, leads "#NoCABNoNRC" protest march organised by her party from Jadavpur to Bhowanipore against the controversial law Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 and the NRC, in Kolkata on Dec 17, 2019. (Photo: IANS)
Kolkata Police has undertaken security measures in the wake of unrest and violence in several districts following the Citizenship Amendment Act. Additional forces have been deployed in each of the nine divisions while Heavy Radio Flying Squads (HRFS) have been kept at standby in several sensitive areas, especially in the mixed neighbourhoods.
Local police stations have also been instructed to reach out to the community leaders and be watchful to prevent the spread of any rumour. “We have instructed clearly that no road blockade or destruction of public property will be tolerated. No meetings can be held without prior information and disruption of traffic movement will not be allowed in any way,” said a senior IPS officer at Lalbazar.
Meanwhile, students of several universities today took out rallies protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). Students of Jadavpur University and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute took out a rally to protest against the assault on the students of Delhi’s Jamia Milia Islamia University. The Students Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) also organised a meeting at Rajabazar.
Hundreds of students of Presidency University also held protests at College Street. The city has witnessed several rallies and protest marches in the past few days over the issue. Meanwhile, All Bengal University Teachers’ Association (ABUTA) condemned the attack on the students at Jamia Milia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University.
“ABUTA strongly believes that NRC and the CAA are a serious blow to India’s democratic character. The laws are sharply opposite to the Constitution’s basic secular ideology. Besides, the recent brutal attack by the Central government on the students’ movement in protest of NRC and CAA is of great concern. We demand exemplary punishment for the attackers involved,” said ABUTA general secretary prof. Goutam Maity.
JUTA ( Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association) general secretary prof. Partha Pratim Roy said, “JUTA strongly condemns the brutal attack of police on the students, teachers and staff of Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University and we are standing in solidarity with them.”
