Trains were set afire and blocked, and public vehicles attacked as protests over 'Agnipath' swept across several places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu on Thursday amid partisan political voices in favour and against the new recruitment scheme for the defence forces that has set off a firestorm.
An SFI member was hospitalised and several others suffered minor injuries in the attack that comes a week after BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta was heckled by Left-leaning students at the university. SFI blamed the ABVP for the attack, however the latter said attackers were TMC members.
Protests broke out in some states on Friday, including Delhi's Jama Masjid and stone-petling at policemen in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj and Saharanpur, over the controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad by two now-suspended Bharatiya Janata Party functionaries with demonstrators in Jharkhand injuring a few policemen while authorities in Jammu imposed a curfew in few areas and parts of Kashmir observed a shutdown.
Shadab Farooq, a mass communication student, said the administration and the vice chancellor should also be blamed for the shooting.
Addressing a rally in Rithala in northwest Delhi, Shah said Kejriwal and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were against the construction of Ram temple, the scrapping of provisions of Article 370 and were not bothered about the country's image and soldiers.
They have been accused of asking anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters to go to 'any extreme', spreading discontent in the community by calling CAA/National Register of Citizens anti-Muslim, and organise demonstrations to 'malign the image of the Government of India'.
Mohammad Minhajuddin had come to Delhi last year with a dream of starting his law practice in the national capital, but on December 15 he lost vision in one eye allegedly in police action in the Jamia Millia Islamia library. Minhajuddin, an LLM student, now wants to go back to his hometown in Bihar after completing his studies as he says he doesn't even feel safe in his university campus anymore.
Haryana is witnessing a multi-cornered contest this time, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party facing anti-incumbency and a resurgent Congress.
Despite repeated appeals from the police and the varsity authorities, the protesters refused to end their agitation. Police said the protesters did not have permission to march towards Parliament.
A group of protesters, allegedly owing allegiance to BJP's student wing ABVP, on Sunday clashed with police at Jantar Mantar during a demonstration demanding speedy punishment for the rapists of the girl who died after battling for life.
'The protests have forced the government to announce that the NRC is not an immediate priority.' 'Even if they are trying to pursue this policy in a different guise, through the NPR, the fact that they have been forced to pause and backtrack at least temporarily shows the positive impact of the protests.' 'Moreover, various state governments have opposed the NPR which cannot be carried out without their cooperation. That is also a success of the protests.' 'The state governments would not have taken this stance against the central government if their hand had not been forced by the popular mood.'
The Delhi police prosecutor on Friday compared the alleged planning of the February 2020 riots with that of the 9/11 terror attacks in the US while opposing former Jawaharlal Nehru University student Umar Khalid's bail plea.
Filmmakers Farhan Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap and Aditi Rao Hydari were among the prominent faces from the Hindi film industry to join the public protesting against the Citizenship Act at Mumbai's August Kranti Maidan on Thursday. The gathering included workers of political parties, students and also a smattering of Bollywood personalities, who made out a strong case against the Act and the National Register of Citizens.
Truck movements across the India-Bangladesh border are on the rise, with increasing rentals signalling a trade recovery between the two South Asian nations. Yet, geopolitical tension looms large, with Bangladesh now under an interim government for nearly two months.
Here is an explainer on the functioning of the seven-year-old body.
Hossain said they will "always try to maintain good relations" with India.
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra said images of students clashing with police at various institutions over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) are deeply disturbing and crushing voices of dissent will only turn the agitators against India.
The protest by farmers at the Delhi border points entered the sixth day and is set to continue as the critical talks between three Union ministers and farmer groups ended in a stalemate on Tuesday after they rejected the government's suggestion of a new committee to look into issues raised by agitating farmers.
'We will not accept the CAA and EIA. We have been protesting against the CAA since 2016, but this government has not listened to us'
Sheikh Hasina, who quit as prime minister and fled Bangladesh, will be back in the country as soon as democracy is restored, his son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said on Thursday and blamed Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI, for fuelling the ongoing unrest in the country.
Seema, a Shaheen Bagh local, said instead of asking the protesters to end their sit-in, the governments in Delhi and at the Centre should have sent them face masks and hand santisers. Kaneez Fatima, who claims to be a regular at the site since Day 1, said if the government was so concerned about safety and well being, it should withdraw the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, adding that 'we will call off the protest immediately'.
Holding up pictures of Lord Shiva, Guru Nanak, and Jesus Christ, he referred to Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism and Jainism to underline the importance of fearlessness. He also cited the attributes of Lord Shiva and teachings of Guru Nanak, Jesus Christ, Buddha, and Mahavir to state that all religions and great people of the country have said "daro mat, darao mat (do not be scared, do not scare others)".
Thousands of students took to the streets demanding justice for Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula and protesting the Jawaharlal Nehru University crisis.
Yadvendu claimed that he demanded Rs 40 lakh from each aspirant, including his nephew Anurag Yadav, for providing the leaked question paper on May 4, a day before the exam.
About 16,000 Indians, mostly students, are stranded in Ukraine as Russia's invasion of the east European country entered its second day on Friday. Of the students, many studying medicine in Kharkiv and Kyiv, about 2,500 are from Gujarat and 2,320 from Kerala.
A senior police officer said adequate security arrangements have been made on the campus to maintain peace and tranquillity in the area.
Members of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union and the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment had disrupted the film's screening, alleging a hate campaign was being propagated in its guise.
Sanyukt Kisan Morcha said the move is aimed at further strengthening and expanding the farmers' agitation which began in November last year.
Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh's interim government, has said that former prime minister Sheikh Hasina making political remarks from India is an 'unfriendly gesture', asserting that she must remain silent to prevent the discomfort to both countries until Dhaka requests her extradition.
Gandhi said Modi's top priority now is to get his Speaker in Parliament and is not bothered about NEET .
Police personnel entered the university campus to only control the situation, police said.
Opposition parties on Thursday alleged that an "undeclared Emergency" has been imposed in the country in the light of restrictions and detention of thousands for defying prohibitory orders to deal with the mounting protests against the new citizenship law in multiple cities. Rejecting the charge, the Centre and the Bharatiya Janata Party said no government can tolerate violence and alleged that the opposition parties were fuelling the protests for vote bank politics.
At least 100 women have been sitting on a side road in Nagpada area since January 26 night. One of the protesters said the women are balancing their responsibilities at home while also participating in the protest.
The woman and Althaf had been friends on Instagram for the last three months and both belonged to the same town (Karkala).
The incident comes close on the heels of a Bangladeshi student of Visva Bharati University being issued a similar directive by the FRRO after she posted photographs of an anti-CAA demonstration, held on the campus, on social media.
The Centre said the data analytics of results of NEET-UG 2024 show the marks distribution follows the bell-shaped curve that is witnessed in any large-scale examination indicating no abnormality.
The fascists in control of our nation, are afraid of the voices of our brave students. Today's violence in JNU is a reflection of that fear, Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet
The judge asked the concerned deputy commissioner of police (DCP) to monitor the probe to ensure fair investigation as police have failed to point out what investigation has been carried out so far regarding the involvement of the rival faction.
'The more educated a young person is, the higher the chances of him or her remaining unemployed.'
The fundamental construct of India's neighbourhood policy still needs to be what Vajpayee postulated, Manmohan Singh embraced, and Modi energised. It's just that we need to junk domestic politics and excessive religiosity, while acquiring much humility and a renewed respectfulness towards our neighbours, recommends Shekhar Gupta.
