Law enforcement entered the grounds of the Madras University late on Tuesday in an attempt to evict some 60 students, which were staging a sit-in protest there. The students were promptly surrounded by some 100-strong police force, yet they refused to disperse.

The students reportedly demanded the release of two fellow protesters, who were nabbed by the police a day earlier. The law enforcement, for its part, urged the students to leave the campus first, promising to release the detained thereafter

A tense standoff ensued, with fears it could turn violent. The university has previously declared a December 18-23 leave in a bid to prevent the protesters from gathering on its grounds. So far, the law enforcement has refrained from forcefully evicting the peaceful protesters.

The ongoing unrest in India was triggered by the law that facilitates citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who fled to India before 2015 due to religious persecution. While designed to protect the vulnerable groups, the law’s critics claimed it was discriminatory against Muslims, and the bill’s adoption triggered a wave of outrage and mass protests.

The students’ dissent was further fueled by a police raid of New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University’s campus that occurred over the weekend. Responding to riots outside of the university and the stone-throwing protesters, police on Sunday broke into its grounds, deployed tear gas and chased down students and staff. Chaotic footage from the scene has been widely shared, and caused a follow-up mass protest outside police HQ. The students detained on the campus were eventually released.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the Muslim outrage has been uncalled for, saying in a series of tweets on Monday that the protests against the citizenship law were “unfortunate and deeply distressing.” He added that the disturbance and damage to property won’t be tolerated.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!