Marching on, despite the rain: Delhi University students protest against JNU violence, citizenship law

This morning, students of Delhi University came together at the Faculty of Arts to protest against the mob violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University, the new citizenship law and the contentious National Register of Citizens. 

The protest was organised by the Young India Coordination Committee, a collective of over 50 student bodies and unions across India. 

The protest drew hundreds of students and teachers. 

Earlier in the morning, students of the university’s St Stephen’s College boycotted their classes and marched around their campus to express solidarity with students of JNU and those protesting against the  citizenship law. They chanted slogans of “azaadi”. The college last participated actively in protests during the Mandal agitation. The students later joined the protest at the Arts Faculty. 

As did students from the Delhi School of Economics. They too had boycotted their classes in solidarity with the trade unions that had called for a nationwide strike in protest against the Narendra Modi regime’s labour policies as well as the citizenship law and the NRC. 

“I am here because in the last one month, everything that has been happening in this country is undemocratic and unconstitutional. It was JNU, Jamia, and AMU yesterday. Tomorrow it could be us,” said Kanishk Kumar, a student at the Delhi School of Economics.

Students protested by singing songs and displaying creative posters. 

In a rare sight, some police officers cleared the traffic for smooth passage of the march. 

Despite heavy rain, the protesters marched on. The rain couldn’t dampen their spirits. 

They marched from the Arts Faculty gate to Hansraj College, passed along the main road, and collected at the Vivekananda statue inside the Arts Faculty. They shouted slogans of “Inquilab Zindabad” and “CAA, NRC nahi chalega”.

Some of their posters declared, “JNU, Jamia, AMU, sabka badla lega DU.” Roughly, it means DU will take revenge for JNU, Jamia and AMU.

Later, they read the preamble of the Indian constitution. 

“I’m here because the secular, democratic India I grew up in is crumbling at the hands of this government. As a student, it is my duty to agitate,” said a political science student at the university, speaking on the condition of anonymity. 

Women students joined the march in large numbers. They shouted, “Jamia ki ladkiyon ne raasta dikhaya hai.” The women of Jamia have shown the way.

A lot of the slogans and posters condemned the inaction of the Delhi police in JNU and the police crackdown on the students of Jamia.