Jamia students scarred by the violence on campus

Sunday’s violent incidents at Jamia Millia Islamia have left deep scars in the minds of students who were witness to it.

Shoaib, a law student in Jamia said, “I was sitting near the Central Canteen of the college, when I heard that the police had entered the campus. I hid inside the washroom, but the police broke the door and entered inside. Approximately 30 policemen started thrashing me and I fell unconscious for a while. I had a shawl around my neck, so one of them tried to tighten it.”

The students of Jamia Millia Islamia are in shock at the brutality of the Delhi Police against them. They have been protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which they claimed went against the Constitution.

“I used to proudly say that my university is very safe, but after what happened on Sunday, I feel scared in my own room. It will take some time for us to recover. We don’t accept the Act as it is against our Constitution and, therefore, ask the government to withdraw it,” Shoaib added.

The students said the police did not even spare the girls. Afzal, an ex-student of Jamia said, “On Sunday, police entered the campus. The guards closed the gates, but the police broke the locks and entered the campus. They entered the washrooms and Masjid and attacked people. They even entered the girls’ hostel and started beating them as well. The police did not spare the girls.”

“Our question to the government is why are only Muslims being targeted. Indian citizenship should not be based on religion,” added Afzal.

But not all the students are protesting against the Act. There are some students who have joined the protests against the brutality of the Delhi Police. Nandini, a French student in Jamia said, “The protests were peaceful until the police started its lathi charge. I am disappointed by the brutality of the police. On Sunday, students marched from Shaheen Bagh, Batla House and Zakir Nagar, but the police stopped them at New Friends’ Colony and started charging them with batons. Police entered the library and even attacked the students studying there. As a democratic nation, we have the right to protest and, therefore, what Delhi Police did was wrong.”

Several buses were set on fire during the protests against the amended citizenship bill on Sunday. Neither the police nor the students take responsibility for the incident.

Shakeb Zuber, a former student of Jamia said, “We demand equal rights from the government. We were conducting peaceful protests, but the Delhi Police started firing tear gas on us. The police blames students for burning public buses, but we have not done that. There were many students who were taken to jail from the hospitals by the police. We demand that the NRC and CAA are scrapped as they are unconstitutional. We are organising a rally on December 19 against the cruelty of the police.”