During the December 15 clashes between the police and protestors at the Jamia Millia Islamia University the students have alleged that the police personnel shouted “Maaro inko, ye katwe hai” (Thrash them, these circumcised) as they beat the students. The students were agitating against the new Citizenship Amendment Act.
A student protestor told Quartz India that the Delhi police had permitted them to take out a protest march in the Batla House community near the Jamia university when the students asked. The police allowed them to use a particular lane for the march.
“I want to emphasise, all this was peaceful. The Delhi police personnel were positioned only kilometres away from us,” said Mohd Nazeef Khan, a 23-year-old student of Jamia Millia Islamia.
After an hour or so, the students were joined by some residents of Jamia Nagar and other nearby areas. They marched towards Surya hotel in New Friends Colony near Batla House. “Jamia Millia students then appealed to our groups to stay put and not join the locals. We continued to protest at the spot we had permission for,” Khan added.
Around 2 pm, the students of Jamia Millia’s Faculty of Law were to join the protesters and march peacefully towards the Delhi police headquarters. It was decided not to raise any more slogans.
However, before that could happen, the locals, who had entered New Friends Colony, turned violent, Khan said.
Events That Followed
Soon, news started surfacing that the protesters were pelting stones at parked cars and moving buses and damaging property.
“We got to know that they’d also torched a bike. What followed was unbelievable. We saw police personnel light a fire from the torched bike and burn the buses,” Khan said.
3 buses have been set ablaze by Jihadis in Jamia Milia Islamia. Those doing it can never be students. Strict action must be taken against these anti-nation elements. pic.twitter.com/6YrVenBrR4
— Friends of RSS (@friendsofrss) December 15, 2019
Some students even recorded the entire incident on their cell phones. These videos confirm there wasn’t a single student near the torched buses, only police personnel.
“Moreover, as soon as the students received news of violence, we called off our protests and returned to the university,” Khan said.
The Chaos
The security guards at the gates checked the identity cards of the returning protesters, entering the campus.
“We thought the worst was behind us. We were angry. To analyse what had happened, we met at the canteen; some of us hadn’t eaten since morning. A few minutes after we settled down, a tear-gas shell was fired inside our canteen from the direction of our library,” Khan said.
Police is trying to enter Library. Students are stuck inside.
They are lobbing tear gas all over campus.
Video is captured 10 min back.
Pl spread the word. Jamia VC is not doing anything to save students.
How can police enter university campus. pic.twitter.com/2Oznm4Eahh
— Wabi Sabi جاوید (@ryder_bey) December 15, 2019
The entire campus was soon taken over by the police. Tear-gas shells were fired.
Eyewitnesses claim Indian security forces are using live ammunition against unarmed protesters at Jamia Millia University.#CitizenshipAmendmentAct pic.twitter.com/5yyPCNI4vr
— CJ Werleman (@cjwerleman) December 15, 2019
Some students claimed that the police harassed the security guards and forced them to open the university’s gates. Some were caught by the police and told they would be escorted to their hostels safely. The police said they were only looking for “outsiders”, Khan claimed.
“We got to know that the students supposedly being taken to their hostel rooms were being detained and beaten up badly. The police took them somewhere, we think it’s Kalkaji police station, but we are not sure. When we asked the police, they hurled abuses at us. Maaro inko, ye katwe hai” (Thrash them, these circumcised). I heard them saying this many times.” he said.
Chief Proctor of Jamia, Waseem Ahmed Khan, had later confirmed that the police did not have permission to enter Jamia.
Also Read: Watch: Jamia Women Brave Police Baton To Save A Man From Getting Attacked
