Students of Jamia Millia Islamia start an indefinite sit-in protest against CAA
To intensify the ongoing struggle against the Citizenship(Amendment) Act (CAA), students of Jamia Millia Islamia have started an indefinite sit-in outside the campus since Wednesday. Although students have been protesting since December 15, this is the first time that the students have called for a round-the-clock sit-in, similar to the one that is underway in Shaheen Bagh. The protesters, however, have not blocked the traffic.
“Although we have been protesting for 36 days now, along with the local residents of Jamia, we felt the need to intensify our struggle as Jamia has become the epicentre of these protests,” said a member of Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC). Since the university does not have an elected students’ body, the JCC, which has members from different students’ outfits, has been managing the protests for over a month.
On Friday, the JCC also called for a “national coordinated protest” for seven days. During this span, the committee has called for multiple activities across the country, such as a multi-faith prayer meet, postcards to the President on repealing the CAA, carrying awareness campaigns on the “demerits” of the CAA, the National Population Register and the National Register of Citizens, a nationwide march on January 20, and a one-day hunger strike on January 21.
They have also launched a WhatsApp group to share photos and videos of the anti-CAA movement from across the country.