Even as spontaneous protests raged against the Citizenship law across the country, the situation escalated in the national capital late on Sunday evening when a peaceful student protest at Jamia Milia Islamia took a violent turn.

 

As the police resorted to brute force, Southeast Delhi was transformed into a virtual war zone – and the university itself came under siege.

 

Around the same time, Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh Muslim University witnessed protests, as well, with students allegedly pelting stones at police, and police retaliating with tear gas and wanton destruction of bikes on the streets of Aligarh.

 

A day later, the protest that started from two universities had spread nationwide –– Delhi University, Benares Hindu University, IIT Madras, and some colleges in Chennai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and more.

 

What happened at Jamia on Sunday evening? How did the protests turn violent? Why did the police resort to the kind of force they put into use? And what next?

Producer: Shelly Walia 

Asmita Nandy, The Quint

Shadab Moizee, The Quint

Listen to our other podcasts on the Citizenship Amendment Bill here and here.