25,000 students of Aligarh Muslim University have called for a hunger strike from tomorrow against the religion-based Citizenship Bill, that was passed in the Lok Sabha around midnight on Monday and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
“All the dining halls will be locked and a total of 25000 residential students are going to sit on hunger strike,” one of the organizers told Maktoob.
“The exclusion of Muslims from the bill, and the government’s plan of nation wide NRC together reveal the genocidal intention of government,” the students said.
The students have called for complete lock-down of the university. They also plan to boycott their end semester exams.
The students have also given show-cause notice to Tariq Mansoor,
Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and professors, demanding seeking reasons for their silence on NRC and CAB.
“The students of AMU declare that either you join the movement against CAB and stand with us as we raise our voices or we will consider you as collaborators with the establishment,” the show-cause notice says.
“There’s no way we accept this bill. This is a moment of do or die for us. Each and every Muslim is together in this. There is no going back now”, Ahmad Mujtaba Faraz, student leader of AMU told Maktoob.
“This issue affects us all equally and we fight this together. The professors must reveal on whose side they are”, said Wardah Beg, a law student.
Amid strong protests from opposition, the Lok Sabha Monday passed the Bill with 311 votes in favour. 80 MPs voted against the Bill.
The bill proposes to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslims who came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan before 2015.
