Student tears apart copy of CAA while receiving her degree at Jadavpur University
Kolkata, Dec 24: A student of Jadavpur University on Tuesday tore apart a page of a copy of the Citizenship Amendment Act while receiving her degree at the convocation ceremony, asserting that the gesture was her way of protesting against the contentious law.
Debosmita Choudhury, who identified herself as a student of the arts department, said she chose to "dump" the CAA document at the podium where the vice-chancellor, Pro-VC and registrar were seated, as it made bonafide citizens prove their nationality.
"Let there be no confusion. I am not showing any disrespect to JU. I am proud to be awarded this degree at my favourite institution. But, I chose this podium to register my protest against CAA... my friends are on a sit-in near the gate of the convocation venue," she said.
Choudhury claimed that a few of her friends refused to receive degrees from the V-C in protest against the CAA.
Arkoprobho Das, another student of the department, said around 25 of his batchmates did not go to the podium to collect their degrees.
"We wore the convocation gowns, but when our names were called we did not go to the podium. This is our way of protesting," he said.
Earlier in the day, protesters blocked West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's entry into Jadavpur University, where he had gone to attend the annual convocation, prompting him to denounce the incident as "total collapse of rule of law".
Amid his frequent run-ins with the Mamata Banerjee government, Dhankhar arrived at the university, a hotbed of anti-CAA and anti-NRC protests, only to find his way blocked by around 50 people, said to be members of Shiksha Bandhu Samiti, an affiliate of the ruling TMC's trade union wing.
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Women's reservation must be implemented without being made contingent on delimitation: CM
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that the Women's Reservation Bill is a long-overdue reform that must be implemented immediately within the existing framework, without being made contingent on delimitation.
Terming the delimitation as the political re-engineering at the cost of southern states, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that these states will stand united, speak in one voice, and defend the true spirit of federalism.
The leaders' statements came a day before the Constitutional Amendment Bill with provisions on women's reservation implementation and delimitation was tabled in the Lok Sabha.
"You are right in highlighting the larger implications of the proposed delimitation approach and the concerns it raises for southern states. We wholeheartedly support the Women's Reservation Bill - it is a long-overdue reform that must be implemented immediately within the existing framework, without being made contingent on delimitation," Siddaramaiah said in a post on 'X'.
He was replying to his Telangana counterpart A Revanth Reddy's post on 'X' with a letter, urging the former to unitedly resist moves to push a pro rata model to increase Lok Sabha seats, which would be highly detrimental and inimical to the interests of southern states.
"Any exercise that reshapes political representation must be undertaken with utmost care. The Union Government must engage all states in a transparent and consultative process, and ensure that fairness, federal balance, and consensus guide this critical decision," Siddaramaiah added.
Shivakumar said that this is not a delimitation, but political re-engineering "at the cost of southern states".
"The proposal to increase Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850 will systematically reduce the voice of the South, while rewarding unchecked population growth elsewhere. This is nothing but punishing progress and good governance," he posted on 'X'.
Clarifying that Congress fully supports women's reservation and in fact, it was party's top leader Sonia Gandhi's vision and commitment that brought this dream to the national agenda, the Deputy CM said, "We demand that it be implemented without linking it to delimitation or seat expansion."
"I urge the Union Govt to not hide behind women's empowerment to push a deely unfair political agenda. Rushing such a massive restructuring of India's democracy during elections, without transparency or consultation, is deeply suspicious and unacceptable," he said.
Asserting that India's strength lies in balance not domination, and in fairness, not manipulation, Shivakumar said, "The Southern states will stand united, speak in one voice, and defend the true spirit of federalism."
"We will not allow the South to be politically marginalised."
