Police crackdown on Jamia students protesting against CAA

Hyderabad: "They just barged into the library and started beating us. Many of us were not even part of the protest, but now we are all getting beaten up and made to leave campus," said a student from Jamia Milia Islamia, in the late hours on Sunday.

The Delhi police unleashed large-scale arson and violence on students from Jamia Milia Islamia University on December 15. The students were protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 11.

Around 50-100 students were detained by the police, following the clashes. Several casualties were also reported. Almost 100 students have suffered injuries and have been admitted to the nearby Al Shifa hospital and Holy Family hospital.

The university authorities claim that the cops had entered the campus by force. Waseem Ahmed Khan, the Chief Proctor of Jamia Millia Islamia University said, “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.”

Earlier, Jamia students had given out a statement saying that they ‘dissociated themselves from violence.” However, after the protests reached outside campus, nearby Julaina, several groups of protestors joined the students. Following this, the police had launched a massive crackdown on the protestors and fired tear gas shells.

Students allege that the police used brute force to ward off protestors, by barging into the campus. They also allege that police had blocked ambulances which had tried to provide medical assistance to the injured students. “Police have fired tear gas shells inside the library, even inside the mosque. Many students had hidden inside toilets, and the police had attacked them also. Students have been dragged out of rooms and beaten up,” said Shaheen Abdulla, a student from JMI. Following this, students were forced to leave campus with hands above their heads. “The police has been treating us students as if we are terrorists, as if we have bombs with us. They have been beating us up like anything, turning the lights off and all. We don’t know what is happening,” said another student.

Meanwhile, clashes between police and students have been reported at Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh as well. Central Universities like University of Hyderabad, EFLU Hyderabad have come out in solidarity and called for a protest condemning the police crackdown on students from Jamia.