'Police Barged Inside Campus, Fired Tear Gas': Jamia University Students Narrate Horrifying Tale

Protests against the new Citizenship act at Jamia Millia Islamia university took a violent as the police and the protestors clashed on Sunday, December 15.

Jamia has been on the boil ever since Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in the Parliament. In several videos of the Jamia which have been circulating on social media, the police are seen vandalising the vehicles, firing tear gas shells inside the campus and dragging students out of the library and the mosque, and assaulting them.

The police action came after violence erupted in parts of Delhi when 1,000 protesters clashed with police and at least six buses and over 50 vehicles were set ablaze in Mathura Road, New Friends Colony, Jamia Nagar and Sarai Julena.

Over 100 people including protestors, firefighters and policemen, are said to have injured during the clashes. The Delhi Metro shut entry and exit gates at over 11 stations as a precautionary measure.

Meanwhile, the Jamia students have distanced themselves from the violence with some Delhi police officers also privately admitting that local thugs were responsible for it. “We have time and again maintained our protests are peaceful and non-violent. The violence “by certain elements” was an attempt to vilify and discredit genuine protests,” said, a student.

Senior police officer Chinmaya Biswal claimed that the police entered the university only after the violent mob went inside and started pelting stones. “We were checking from were these violent activities were taking place,” he said.

The situation went from bad to worse with the students claiming that the police laid siege to the campus with those injured not even allowed to receive medical attention.

Students said windows of the library were smashed and around 50-60 students were inside when police officers gheraoed it. The police allegedly used tear gas shells inside the library.

“Some students hid in the basement to shield themselves. It was a scary situation as we sent out SOS messages to our friends and university officials. The lights had also been switched off,” said another student who chose to remain anonymous.

Another student, Mohammad Kamil, alleged, “Police entered the mosque inside the campus and harassed those who were praying. They have destroyed our library, canteen and we do not know how many other departments of the varsity.”

Hundreds of students were then made to leave Central Library with their hands in the air. “We were asked to vacate the campus and come out with our hands up. We were not even present at the protest site and were inside the campus. We were treated like criminals by police,” said a female student who didn’t wish to be identified.

Around 50 students were detained at Kalkaji Police station on Sunday night. Lawyers and teachers who had later gone to meet them weren’t allowed to enter the police station, which was heavily barricaded.

As per the latest media reports, 35 of the students were freed from the Kalkaji police station while remaining 15 were released from New Friends Colony.

Further, JNUSU called for a march at Police Headquarters in ITO to stand in solidarity with the Jamia students and for their release. It was joined by students from different universities like Ambedkar and Delhi University.

As the controversy over police action in JMI rages, Jamia Chief Proctor Waseem Ahmed Khan in his statement said, “The police have entered the campus by force, no permission was given. Our staff and students are being beaten up and forced to leave the campus.’’ The police responded that it was just doing the needful to bring the situation under control.

Meanwhile, JMI VC Najma Akhtar expressed concern over the safety and security of the students and asked those who left the campus to return. “I appeal to students to keep the peace. Everything will be all right, but we can’t protect students if they leave the campus.” She further added that some members of the public from the main road dividing the campus into two might have joined the protest and been responsible for the violence.

Clashes Erupt At AMU

Protest against the CAA were also seen at Aligarh Muslim University, Hyderabad’s Maulana Azad Urdu University, Banaras Hindu University, and IIT-Bombay.

Aligarh Muslim University students, who took out a solidarity march were also stopped and were subjected to a similar clampdown as Jamia. Internet has been shut down in the Aligarh for 24 hours, while the AMU administration has postponed the papers scheduled to start from Saturday in view of the tense situation and declared winter vacation until January 5.

The Logical Indian Take

The Logical Indian is against any form of violence or damage of public property whether it is by police or the protestors. But at the same time, we believe the job of the police is to deescalate a situation and stop it from going out of proportion while upholding the law Strict action must be taken against those involved in violence and if police have broken the law, then stricter action must be taken against them.

Also Read: New Citizenship Act Causes Rift In NDA, JD(U) Disagrees With BJP On NRC