Kejriwal urges LG to take all steps to end violence over citizenship act

Protesters hurled crude petrol bombs near the metro station outside university campus while the policemen occasionally retaliated by throwing stones at the protesters.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has urged Lt Governor Anil Baijal to take all steps to restore normalcy in the capital hit by violent protests on Sunday against the amended citizenship law.

Three public buses and a fire tender were set afire by protestors in South Delhi’s New Friend’s colony on Sunday (HT Photo)

Three public buses and a fire tender were set afire by protestors in South Delhi’s New Friend’s colony on Sunday afternoon. Protestors also clashed with the police leading to injuries to a few cops and firefighters.

Kejriwal suggested some miscreants’ hand in the protests taking a violent turn.

“Spoke to Hon’ble LG and urged him to take all steps to restore normalcy and peace. We are also doing everything possible at our end. Real miscreants who caused violence shud be identified and punished (sic),” Kejriwal tweeted.

Around 150 students were taken out by the police from the epicentre of protests in Jamia Millia University, located just a few kilometres away from the New Friends Colony. Protesters hurled crude petrol bombs near the metro station outside university campus while the policemen occasionally retaliated by throwing stones at the protesters.

Kerjiwal had earlier denounced the violence as ‘unacceptable’.

“No one shud indulge in violence. Any kind of violence is unacceptable. Protests shud remain peaceful,” he had tweeted.

The protesters view the Citizenship Amendment Act as anti-Muslim since it grants citizenship to undocumented non-Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan who fled religious persecution and returned to India before 2015.

The Central government has staunchly defended the newly-enacted legislation as an empowerment tool and has accused the opposition of inflaming communal passions over it purely for vote bank politics.