With Sunday the fifth consecutive day of protests across the country against a new citizenship law, people used social media platforms to vent their anger with #ResignAmitShah trending on Twitter.
As the peaceful protest turned violent in southeast Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University, netizens questioned India’s federal Home Minister Amit Shah’s silence on the issue and pushed for his resignation.
Amit Shah is home minister of India, what a shame. On one hand police is using all illegal means to suppress the voice of University students and acting as a Mafia while Amit Shah keeps mum on it.
— Vishal Yadav (@vy__tweets) December 16, 2019
Everyone knows he is responsible for this.
Tadipar should resign.#ResignAmitShah pic.twitter.com/7ZUdOn6SRj
#ResignAmitShah
— siddiq.blore (@siddiq_sssay) December 16, 2019
Shame on You Home Minister @AmitShah
Murderer of Democracy.
Once a Murderer Always a Murderer.
Killing innocents for Your politics.#ResignNowAmitShah @AftabUnionCargo @RahulGandhi @UmarKhalidJNU @kanhaiyakumar @siddiq_sssay @Dr_Uditraj @asadowaisi pic.twitter.com/uRbZgM4oLg
Meanwhile in India, #ResignAmitShah is trending.
— Sanakan Venugopal (@vssanakan) December 16, 2019
The hashtag demands Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation on police action against students. pic.twitter.com/EUvg26TMFN
RT if you want Tadipar Should Resign... #ResignAmitShah #JamiaMilia #BJPburningIndia pic.twitter.com/1yDKPrvJ4n
— Sourav Behera (@Sourav_Behera3) December 16, 2019
This is dangerous, seriously very dangerous..#ResignAmitShah pic.twitter.com/MJCksnyoyi
— Ashfaque Nabi (@AshfaqueNabi) December 15, 2019
Authorities said more than 100 students and 35 police personnel were injured in the clashes.
“About 4,000 people were protesting and police did what they did to disperse them when the crowd burnt buses", senior police officer Chinmoy Biswal told the media. “If it had been a peaceful mob it would have been dispersed peacefully".
Furious Twitter users described the police move to storm the campus of the university to confront protesters as undemocratic.
Police brutality on Jamia & AMU students protesting against communal Citizenship (Amendment) Act is disgraceful.#ResignAmitShah pic.twitter.com/ydPTkGLZNk
— Priyesh (@ipriyeshpandey) December 15, 2019
That's how democracy died Yesterday 😢
— faraz zama khan (@farazzamakhan) December 16, 2019
.#ShameOnDelhiPolice #ResignAmitShah #JamiaProtests pic.twitter.com/ZUymPOVjJ2
#ResignAmitShah
— Chennai OMR AIPC (@ChennaiOmrAIPC) December 16, 2019
India's Daughter pic.twitter.com/9ETsHlCDlY
more and more power to all the students community ...
— Abuzar Asqlan (@AbuzarAsqlan) December 16, 2019
Yes except it or not we are the future of this country and we will not back the more u oppres more we rise #jamiaprotest #ResignAmitShah pic.twitter.com/YjgJL1abDD
Wake Up Secular people Wake Up. #ResignAmitShah pic.twitter.com/Hb5hRhd1XV
— Raja Bhaiya (@Kabir1Altamash) December 16, 2019
In the wake of Sunday's violence, the university has been shut down until 5 January 2020. The government of the national capital has ordered the closure of schools in neighbouring areas on Monday as a precautionary measure.
According to India’s new citizenship law, persecuted non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, living as immigrants in India, can now acquire Indian citizenship.
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) December 16, 2019
The bill has been dubbed “undemocratic” and discriminatory towards Muslims by Indian opposition parties. However, these allegations were refuted by Amit Shah in Parliament.