After the Northeast region, the national capital on Sunday witnessed violent protests over the amended Citizenship Act (CA). A protest march planned by the students of Jamia Millia Islamia University ended in a pitched battle with the Delhi police. South Delhi resembled a war zone as protestors went on a rampage. As a mob threw stones at the police who had gone to stop their progress to the city centre, the police used batons and teargas. Buses were set on fire, and police entered the campus. Many students were detained and several of them were brutally beaten up police.
This came on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally in Jharkhand made a communally sensitive statement by stating that those protesting against the CA can be identified by their clothes, loosely referring to the Muslim community. The violence that occurred around Jamia Millia Islamia University will now be used by the BJP to polarize the Hindu voters, especially with the Delhi election round the corner. The Muslims hitting the streets and indulging in violence will be used by the saffron party to stoke hatred against the minority community. Therefore those protesting the CA should exercise restraint and desist from indulging in any violence. Attempt is also being made by the leaders of the BJP to portray that the protests against the CA being held in the Northeast region are being sponsored by the Congress party and in some cases even by outside forces. The citizens who are protesting against the CA should protest peacefully and not provide an opportunity to the ruling party to discredit their protest.