Jamia Millia: Indian student injured as man fires at university protest

[Viceroy]

A student has been shot after a man opened fire during a protest against a controversial citizenship law in the Indian capital, Delhi. Police arrested the gunman outside the city's prestigious Jamia Millia Islamia university. Shootings inside educational institutes are not a common occurrence in India. A video showed the man brandishing a gun and asking the protesting students if they really wanted "azadi" or "freedom". "Azadi" has become a controversial word as it is often invoked by Kashmiris opposed to Indian rule. However, protesters outside Kashmir who use the term say it can also mean freedom from issues such as hunger and poverty. The injured student, from Jamia Millia Islamia university, reportedly was shot in the hand and has been taken to hospital for treatment. 'I wait in silence as my world falls apart' Citizenship Amendment Act: The students versus the regime What happens to India's four million 'stateless' people? Jamia Millia Islamia university students have been at the forefront of protests against India's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which critics say discriminates against Muslims. An anti-CAA protest march by its students in December ended in violence and clashes with the police. Subsequent footage of police forcibly entering the campus premises, damaging property and beating students led to a wave of fresh protests against the law across the country, many of them in solidarity with Jamia.

Thursday's incident comes days after a MP from India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was censured for inciting a crowd in Delhi to shout "shoot the traitors" while railing against a peaceful anti-CAA protest. In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where 30 people were killed, police have been accused of brutality. A judge in the state's Bijnor district has since strongly censured police for their actions, as he granted bail to 48 mostly Muslim protesters.