Among the dozen who lost lives during protests over the amended Citizenship Act was an IAS aspirant from Uttar Pradesh.
Although the UP DGP OP Singh maintains that ”not a single bullet was fired” during the unrest, the Bijnor police for the first time has admitted to have opened fire in self defence during the protests.
Bijnor Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Tyagi told a news channel, “When one of our constables moved ahead to take back the gun that was snatched away by the protesters, a member of the crowd opened fire at him. He had a narrow escape. In retaliatory and self-defence firing, one person was shot at. His friends had taken him away. His name is Suleman and he died. One more protester, Anis, died in firing from the crowd.”
Bijnor was among the Uttar Pradesh districts where violence broke out on Friday over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The 20-year-old Suleman was preparing for his civil services entrance exam and that he had nothing to do with the protests.
“My brother had gone to offer namaaz. He was returning home after the namaaz to eat something. He had fever for the last couple of days. He did not go to the mosque near our home. He went to another mosque. When he stepped out, there was lathi-charge and tear-gassing by the police. The police picked him up and shot at him,” said Suleman”s brother Shoaib Malik.
Eighteen people have died in the state, many of them from bullet injuries, but the state police has maintained that it has not fired a single bullet at protesters anywhere.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, for the first time, makes religion the test of citizenship in India. The government says it will help minorities from three Muslim-dominated countries to get citizenship if they come to India because of religious persecution.
