A student from the Jamia Milia Islamia university was injured on Thursday after a young man opened fire on the students protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Delhi's Jamia area.
The student who got injured from the resultant bullet wound has been identified as 25-year-old Shadaab Farukh. After being shot in the hand, Farukh was taken to the Trauma Centre at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
However, the question which is plaguing the country now happens to be - Who, after all, was the gunman who shot at anti-CAA protesters in Delhi's Jamia? Fortunately enough, journalists and cops alike have picked up clues from the scene and pieced together information available online to paint a clear picture of the person responsible. The person has been identified as a 17-year-old resident of Jewar in Greater Noida. Although the law of the land prevents the individual from being named, it can be said that the man prefixed his name with 'Rambhakt' on Facebook. Now, even though the profile has been deactivated, what remains especially remarkable is that moments before the juvenile pulled the trigger of his pistol in Jamia, reports indicate that he had gone live on Facebook.
The man went live on Facebook four times, where it could be seen that he was walking around the venue of the protest dressed in a black jacket. Shortly after, the gunman fired at the anti-CAA-NRC protesters in Jamia while reportedly yelling "Aao tumhein deta hun aazadi (Come, I'll give you freedom). Hindustan Zindabaad. Delhi Police Zindabaad." Before opening fire, he had also allegedly shouted, "I am a Lord Ram devotee."
A Zee News camera also captured the man firing at anti-CAA protests at Delhi's Jamia.
Deconstructing the Facebook profile of the said gunman further, several earlier posts surfaced. One such post stated, 'Shaheen Bagh, Khel Khatam (game over)'. In another status, Gopal had written, "Meri antim yatra pe mujhe bhagwa me le jaye aur Jai Shri Ram k nare ho (On my final journey, cover me in saffron clothes and chant Jai Shri Ram'.
He had also written, "Mere ghar ka dhyan rakhna (Take care of my family)," indicating that he had come prepared for the consequences of his actions on the day, as he declared, "Azadi de rha hu (I am delivering freedom)."
Reports said the person has been apprehended by the police.
Students of Jamia were taking out a march from the university to Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Raj Ghat on the occasion of Martyrs Day.
Massive protests have emerged across the country against the CAA and the NRC.
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.
Critics say that the new law is against the secular nature of the Indian Constitution and clubbed with the proposed National Register of Citizens (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.
