The students of Madras University were forced to call off their strike last night after the police detained the 20 protestors on campus who refused to leave. The students launched their protests three days ago against the Citizenship Amendment Act and two students were also detained by the police on the first day but released later that night.
During the first day of protests, the administration asked the students to disperse and the police were present on campus as well. Two students who had stepped out of campus, were taken away and their location was not revealed to the students. They were only released at 12.30 in the night. Later that evening, the students confronted the administration and asked them to promise the students that they would be allowed into the campus the next day. The administration promised to allow them if they had their IDs but refused to allow anybody inside.
There were around 20 students who remained through the night and were the only ones who continued their protest. The rest of the students remained outside the barricades. However, yesterday evening, the remaining 20 students were forcefully taken away by the police. "They took us away despite us protesting peacefully and causing no problems to anyone. All we did was raise slogans and sign songs, after all, we were only 20 of us," a student said.
The students said that they were let off without any trouble a little while later. Today, again they were not allowed to enter the campus as the administration has managed to shut it down. "Now till January 2, we can't enter the campus," the student added. The students had also complained that several hostelites were homeless after the administration gave them only till the end of the day to vacate their hostels. With rising ticket prices, students from the North and North East were struggling to find flight tickets.
