Accompanied by Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra, Tharoor became one of the most high profile opposition leaders to visit the two protest sites in Delhi.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday visited Jamia Millia Islamia and Shaheen Bagh where protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) have been going on for four weeks.
Speaking to the crowd in Jamia, Tharoor said, "Dissent is very precious in our country, it is important to understand students deserve support."
Accompanied by Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra, Tharoor became one of the most high profile opposition leaders to visit the two protest sites that have become the centre of the anti-CAA agitation.
"Addressed a packed throng of students at @jamiamillia_ with @INCDelhi President Subhash Chopra. So thick were the crowds & so blocked the traffic that we had to walk the last fifteen minutes to reach the site. But the audience’s enthusiasm made it all worthwhile," Tharoor tweeted.
From Jamia, he went to Shaheen Bagh where addressed the protesters. Women lead and form a major chunk of the daily protesters at Shaheen Bagh.
"Heartwarming to meet & address the courageous women of Shaheen Bagh whose resistance is now legendary. “Aap is sheher ki shaan hain, Bharat desh ki jaan hain” I told them in my address," Thiruvananthapuram MP tweeted.
Speaking at Jamia, Tharoor condemned the police action against students and said, "Jamia and JNU have been sites for very shameful misbehaviour. In Jamia, the police themselves burst into the hostels and libraries and injured some students."
"It is about supporting the protest and also objecting the manner in which the students have been dealt with. It is important to understand that the students deserve support," he added.
Tharoor also faced a protest at Jamia where some protesters chanted "La ilaha illallah" to oppose his views on religious slogans at anti-CAA rallies.
Chopra thanked Tharoor for joining the protest in Delhi. "Thank you @ShashiTharoor ji for visiting Delhi & expressing your solidarity with Jamia students & the brave of women & children of Shaheen Bagh," he tweeted.
The new citizenship law promises citizenship to members of 6 non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India before December 31, 2014.
Massive protests have erupted across the country against the new citizenship law. Some of the protests, most of them in Uttar Pradesh where 19 people have been killed, turned violent, following which the police launched a massive crackdown arresting hundreds of protesters across the state.
Critics say that the new law is against the secular nature of the Indian Constitution and clubbed with the NRC may be misused to strip away some Muslims' citizenship in the country. The BJP, however, has argued that the law has nothing to do with India's Muslims and only helps those who fled religious persecution in the neighbouring countries.
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