New Delhi: Expressing solidarity with Jamia Millia Islamia students, protesting against recent changes in the citizenship law, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the December 15 police action against them is a "blot on the nation". Terming the Citizenship Amendment Act as "discriminatory", Tharoor asserted that it is against the ideals of unity espoused by Mahatma Gandhi. "Whatever happened on December 15, is a blot on nation. Without any provocation, without any intimation to the vice chancellor, they (police) entered hostels and attacked women students. Students studying in library were attacked, which is a shame, shame, shame and not acceptable at all," he told the cheering crowd. Attacking the CAA, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said the Centres step is discriminatory and an effort to marginalise "one community". "What has been done by the government is discriminatory and is an effort to marginalise one community in India. That is why we had opposed the introduction of the bill in the Parliament, as it brought for the first time religion in the Citizenship Act," he said. Tharoor said he does not want any section of fellow citizens to be reduced to the second class of citizens. "We shall stand for the values we cherish and for the humanity and above all we should stand up for Bharat (India)," he added. Tharoor, who addressed the crowd in Hindi and English said, "Religion was no where mentioned in the Citizenship Act until the BJP-led government incorporated it in the CAA. This is not something we can accept." "The CAA is betrayal to ideals of Mahatama Gandhi, who sacrificed his life for the unity of the nation; to the unity of Hindus and Muslims. India, which Mahatma Gandhi wanted to see, will not be the India after the introduction of religion in the CAA," he said. Addressing hundreds of protestors, Tharoor said though he was in Kerala on December 15, when police had barged into the varsity, he had expressed solidarity with protesting students and wanted to meet them on reaching Delhi. Tharoor, who visited Jamia students was along with Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Subhash Chopra claimed after the introduction of religion in CAA, it will be followed in all-India National Register of Citizens, which unfortunately puts the onus on one community to prove its citizenship. "That is not the India that our founding fathers wanted to see, that is not the India that people in Congress party, including myself, would ever like to accept. We want India, where every one is equal. It should not matter whether you are a Muslim or Hindu, a Christian or Sikh. If you are Indian, you have same rights and same privileges," he said. Tharoor also interacted with students and teachers of the JNU, where around 30 students and two professors were brutally attacked by a masked mob on January 5. While Tharoor was meant to speak at JNU on the CAA and the NRC around 6 pm, his scheduled events at Jamia Millia Islamia and Shaheen Bagh delayed his appearance at JNU. Several times during the day, Tharoor apologised for the delay on Twitter and finally took the metro to reach JNU from Shaheen Bagh.

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