Students’ protest in Pune to condemn Jamia violence, CAA on a bigger scale on Day 2
On Tuesday morning, the students walked through the gates of FC, raised solgans against CAA-NRC and held a signature campaign to gather written support from people around the area.
The second day of students’ protests here against the thrashing of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University students by the Delhi police on Sunday and the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, (CAA) took a bigger form on Tuesday.
While about 300 students from various colleges gathered in front of Fergusson College (FC) to register their protest, another rally convened by the alumni association of Jamia University in front of the District Collectorate in the afternoon, saw bigger participation from students and the public. A counter protest, on a smaller scale, by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), was held at Fergusson College.
In the morning, the students walked through the gates of FC, raised slogans against CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and held a signature campaign to gather support from the students and people in the area.
The sloganeering by the students was stopped after Pune police arrived at the spot and the students, then, moved inside the college campus and embarked on a signature campaign.
Fergusson College student Vishal Dabhade said, “Our protest and signature campaign on Tuesday was successful and we have collected 550 signatures. The campaign will go on and we will finally submit it to the Pune district collector. This is just the beginning and in the forthcoming days, we have planned series of protests, rallies and other events to show our opposition to the CAA, NRC and attack on Jamia students.”
Santosh Rasve, one of the student leaders behind the protest who was served a notice by the police, said, “We were not allowed to initiate the signature campaign. But as there was lot of anger and pain amongst the students the campaign happened successfully. Our protest was entirely peaceful and we fully cooperated with the police department.”
ABVP students chanted slogans in support of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government and welcomed the CAA. Dayanand Shinde, ABVP president at Savitribai Phule Pune University, said that the “so-called student protest” had more outsiders than students who had gathered without police permission. He demanded action against them for breaking the law.
Shinde said the ABVP has also submitted a letter to the college principal demanding action against the students and a strict ban on outsiders entering the campus.
Fergusson College principal Dr Ravindra Pardeshi, said, “Both the student groups protested outside and as well as inside the college campus. The college administration has recorded all of it. No action is been taken on any of the students by the college.”
Deccan police station senior police inspector Deepak Lagad said that the police was present at the protest and had refused permission to preserve law and order. “Today’s protest outside the college was peaceful and it didn’t affect the traffic flow or the public. No action or arrests have been made by the police.”
Students from Fergusson College, Yuvak Kranti Dal, Students Helping Hand, National Students Union of India (NSUI), Rashtriya Seva Dal and other organisations participated in Tuesday’s protest.
National call for protest
A national call for protest by all the organisations has been given for December 19 (Thursday) to protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, NRC and CAA. On that day, a marshal march has also been organised in Pune from Mahatma Phule wada to Tilak statue chowk at 5pm.