Congress leader Shashi Tharoor joined the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) at Jamia Millia Islamia and later at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi on Sunday.
Shashi Tharoor first went to Jamia where he joined the protest going outside the campus and later to Shaheen Bagh.
While addressing the protesters outside Jamia, Tharoor said, “Dissent is very precious in our country. Universities like Jamia and JNU have been sites for very shameful misbehaviour.”
“In Jamia. the police themselves burst into the hostels and libraries and injured some students. It is about supporting the protest and also objecting to the manner in which the students have been dealt with. It is important to understand that the students deserve support ” he said condemning the act of police.
He also termed the CAA as a violation of the Constitution of India and said that the law discriminates by imposing for the first time a religious test as part of the Citizenship Act.
“The second problem is Amit Shah himself explicitly linking it with a nationwide NRC. So, these are the two things we are opposing,” he added.
However, the Congress leader was welcomed with posters and slogans of ‘La ilaha illallah’ when he was delivering the speech.
This came due to Tharoor opposing ‘Islamic extremism’ after a user on Twitter posted a video encouraging protesters to say ‘La ilaha illallah’ during the anti-CAA protests.
Tharoor on Twitter embedded the video and tweet of the users and wrote, “Our fight against Hindutva extremism should give no comfort to Islamist extremism either. We who’re raising our voice in the #CAA_NRCProtests are fighting to defend an #InclusiveIndia. We will not allow pluralism&diversity to be supplanted by any kind of religious fundamentalism.”
Our fight against Hindutva extremism should give no comfort to Islamist extremism either. We who’re raising our voice in the #CAA_NRCProtests are fighting to defend an #InclusiveIndia. We will not allow pluralism&diversity to be supplanted by any kind of religious fundamentalism. https://t.co/C9GVtB9gIa
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 29, 2019
In a separate development, the Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University, Najma Akhtar, had told that a Human Rights Commission’s team will visit the campus on January 14 to take statements of the students on the December 15 incident and proofs from the varsity campus.
Shashi Tharoor later went to Shaheen Bagh, which is at a distance of 3 kms from Jamia to address another protest against the CAA and NRC. Later Tharoor also went to JNU to meet the students.
Stuck in severe traffic between @jamiamillia_ & ShaheenBagh, a 3 km journey that has already taken half an hour. Message to JNU students: I will be more than an hour late for the @nsui event. Please don’t waste your time waiting: come back closer to 7.30pm
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 12, 2020
However, Tharoor later took a Metro to reach JNU and taking to twitter said, “Decided to give up battling the traffic near ShaheenBagh & have taken the metro instead to get to you. Will still be late, but not as late as if I’d stuck to four wheels! See you all soon! Looking forward to our interaction.”
Message to JNU students awaiting me: Decided to give up battling the traffic near ShaheenBagh & have taken the metro instead to get to you. Will still be late, but not as late as if I’d stuck to four wheels! See you all soon! Looking forward to our interaction. pic.twitter.com/t68zW8Iqsp
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 12, 2020
Shaheen Bagh is witnessing a continuous protest against the CAA after the Act came in existence.