Sandeep Pandey, Anandi Pandey 

At New Delhi’s Jamia Millia University if one visits the library it may appear as if a pitched battle was fought here. Almost all glasses have been broken by tear gas shells or stun grenades and furniture has been vandalised. And this was in response to some peaceful protests outside the library. Although protests against Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens have been staged by students in various institutions, including IITs and IIMs, the police cracked down on institutions with Muslim majority students like Jamia Millia University, Aligarh Muslim University, Nadwa College and Integral University, the last two in Lucknow. Students have been brutally beaten. Minazuddin lost one eye, both hands of Mustafa are fractured and Shayan has both legs fractured. 26 people have been arrested from AMU campus out of a total of 52 in Aligarh so far. But there are more than 1000 unnamed people in two FIRs each. 4 students of Nadwa College are in jail with their bail denied by the lower court. Ahamad Raza Khan, a student of Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti Urdu, Arabi, Farsi University in Lucknow has been rusticated by the Vice Chancellor for having sent a message to his fellow students for participating in a protest against CAA-NRC.

All the 17 deaths that have taken place in Uttar Pradesh due to bullet injuries during the recent violence are Muslim youth in their 20s and 30s and mostly from poor families. Strangely, the police has not taken responsibility for any except one in Bijnor, when there is no question of groups of people having clashed with each other. It was a protest against the government. People were on one side and police on the other.

In Lucknow, FIR no. 600 registered at Hazratganj Police Station on 20 December names 39 people as accused of whom 36 are Muslims. Among the arrested are Advocate Mohammad Shoaib, who was under house arrest on 19 December, when most violence took place in Lucknow, and he is being accused of provoking violence. A battery rickshaw operator Mohammad Wakeel was killed by a bullet injury. People with bullet injuries are not coming out in open for fear of retributive action by police.

In Muzaffarnagar there was a protest against CAA–NRC organised on 20 December and when people were returning to their homes around 3–4 pm a mob comprising of police and members of Hindutva brigade went on rampage and vandalised Muslim houses like those of Hamid Hasan, Intezar, Farooq in Sarwat and Naseem Ahmed, Ishtkhar in Khalapar  and attacked Madarsa hostels. Some minors are still in jail. FIR no. 684 registered at PS Civil Lines and FIR no. 1161 registered at PS Kotwali Nagar on 21 December against 107 and 151 people respectively, contain named Muslims and unnamed 2,500–3,000 people in both. 21 years old clothes vendor Noor Mohammad was killed by a bullet shot at his forehead, most likely by the police. Abdul Kareem Mosque in Darjiyon Wali Gali was also vandalised. 13-year-old Mohammad Ahmed, student of class IX at Himalayan Public School, and his elder sister Rukayya, who was about to get married, received injuries on their leg and head, respectively, inflicted by police lathis. Their house was attacked by about a hundred policemen. So far no FIR has been registered by any of the victims or their family members. Victims and social activists are in a state of shock.

In Meerut there was no protest organised, yet people returning after namaz in the afternoon on 20 December were attacked by police without any provocation, first with lathis and then when people retaliated by throwing stones, by firing bullets—17 people received bullet injuries. Officially 5, and additionally one more, deaths have taken place. Among the dead were Aleem, 24 years old, a roti maker at a dhaba, Mohammad Asif, 20 years old, who used to ply battery rickshaw and Mohammad Mohsin, 30 years old, a scrap dealer—all of them were most likely shot by the police, all belonged to the lower economic strata of society. Aleem received a bullet on his head, and Asif and Mohsin on their chests. Again no FIRs have been registered by family members of the deceased as the people are afraid that the administration may attach their property as it considers all the dead as rioters. For example, Md. Asif had a Delhi identity card as his entire family had moved to Delhi for livelihood and returned three years back. He is being accused by police of having brought 20–25 rioters from Delhi to incite violence in Meerut.

The pattern is clear. It is the Muslims who have been attacked during vandalism, arson, looting or police firing and it is they against whom FIRs are also being registered. The modus operandi is to make victims the accused. The state government in UP has also declared that it’ll recover the cost of damage to public property from rioters. So, the victims who have FIRs against them also face the danger of their property being seized by the local administration. The police and administration went into overdrive after a late night meeting of senior officials with the Chief Minister on 19 December night.

Since the Bhartiya Janata Party has come to power at the centre, a clear policy targeting the Muslims can be delineated. Act to ban illegal triple talaq has criminalised a civil matter without talking about abandonment of women by men practising other faiths. Abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A related to Jammu and Kashmir, while at the same time continuing dialogue with National Socialist Council of Nagaland for partial autonomy to Nagaland, was an example of humiliating a Muslim majority state. The judgement in favour of Ram temple by the Supreme Court even though all evidence pointed to the contrary was a stamp of approval on majoritarian politics even by the judiciary. However, the CAA and NRC, even though clearly targeting the Muslims again, have touched some sensitive nerve of society because of which people across faith, gender, caste, class and region have come together to oppose this sinister move of the government. In an atmosphere reminiscent of freedom movement, while the rulers are trying their best to divide people on communal lines, the common Muslims and Hindus are together on the streets in this struggle against a repressive government. People everywhere, south and north, east and west, are protesting against CAA–NRC. It remains to be seen whether the ongoing national movement will liberate the country from repressive forces or the country will recede further into a communalised and polarised society.

(Sandeep Pandey is a social-political activist and Anandi is a II year B.A. student at Ashoka University.)