In India's capital, the fallout of a controversial new law on refugee naturalisation -- critics say it deliberately discriminates against Muslims -- has well and truly hit home. (Photo: PTI)

The smoking, metal husk of a bus being doused by men in hard-hats. The front tire of a charred motorcycle burned clean but still fixed on forlornly titling forks. The words on a lone, discarded poster on a road strewn with shards of glass: "India Rejects CAB."

In India's capital, the fallout of a controversial new law on refugee naturalisation -- critics say it deliberately discriminates against Muslims -- has well and truly hit home.

The trouble began near Jamia Millia Islamia, a renowned public university whose students have been protesting the legislation. It is still unclear how precisely the violence erupted and who is responsible -- Jamia's students say they are not -- but there was soon total chaos.

One news agency described a "raging mob" of nearly 1,000 people. Stones were thrown. Buses were burned. And so were police vehicles, the cops say.

Image credit: Hardik Chhabra/India Today

Civilians were so terrified that "many left their cars on the way and ran for their life", a Delhi resident who lives close to Jamia Millia Islamia told IANS.

Later, Jamia's chief proctor accused the police of entering its campus by force and beating students and staff. The police's explanation was that it entered the premises to bring the situation under control.



One senior journalist reported on Twitter, quoting a Jamia student, that people stuck inside the library were having trouble breathing because of the tear gas (The varsity's vice-chancellor said students were safely evacuated from the library). A fact-checker for Agence France Presse tweeted images he said were sent by Jamia students claiming the police vandalised a prayer hall.

Received images from Jamia students that Delhi police entered a prayer hall inside the campus and vandalised it. #JamiaProtest pic.twitter.com/LN0aCMFR86 Uzair Hasan Rizvi (@RizviUzair) December 15, 2019

A top police officer said the police had been attacked with stones from inside the campus and were forced to use tear gas to disperse a "violent mob". He said six police and two fire service officials were injured.

Sources quoted by the Press Trust of India said 35 injured were brought to an Okhla hospital. Twelve were admitted.

'CONSTANT 'POP' SOUNDS'

The citizenship law that has provoked so much fury fast-tracks naturalisation for Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Afghan refugees who fled religious persecution in their home countries. It covers six religious minorities -- but not Islamic ones.

FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES ON THE CAA PROTESTS HERE

The law has caused particular consternation in the Northeast, where protesters fearing a threat to the region's indigeneity took to the streets this week. (The government denies that its policy is anti-Muslim and has promised to protect the rights of locals in the Northeast.)

On Sunday, it was Delhi that was plunged into chaos. Traffic was affected in several places. A number of metro stations were closed. A protest was held outside the Delhi Police headquarters late at night.

Photo: PTI

A Delhi resident who lives close to Jamia Millia Islamia told IndiaToday.in that locals had stocked food.

She said she was getting SOS messages from "several people in the locality" and was "constantly hearing pop sounds" from the varsity area.

There is unrest elsewhere, too.

Violence, looting and arson have been reported in West Bengal, where internet services have been snapped in six districts.

In Uttar Pradesh, students at the Aligarh Muslim University protested the Delhi Police's actions; they broke a police cordon and fought pitched battles with the cops, who used batons and tear gas to control the situation.

#WATCH Aligarh: Police fire tear gas shells at protesters outside Aligarh Muslim University campus after protesters pelted stones at them. (Note: abusive language) #CitizenshipAmendmentAct pic.twitter.com/lUiXJUtkRx ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 15, 2019

AMU has now been closed till January 5.

POLITICS REARS UGLY HEAD

Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP (whose central government controls police in the capital) were at each other's throats over today's violence.

BJP leaders accused an AAP MLA, Amanatullah Khan, of "provoking people" at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's behest and blamed him for the violence. Khan denies the allegations.

On the other hand, Delhi's deputy chief minister, Manish Sisodia, accused the BJP of getting the police to torch buses.

Both parties will soon face off in an assembly election.