Students Across the Country Protest Police Violence in Jamia Millia

On Sunday night, Jamia Millia students who were protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act were attacked by police.

New Delhi: Reports of police violently attacking students in the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) in Delhi has sparked off protests by students across the country, from Aligarh Muslim University to IIT Madras.

On Sunday evening, incidents of arson and violence were reported at the site of a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act held by the students of JMI. The students claimed that they had not participated in violence and condemned it. The Delhi Police entered the university and allegedly fired tear gas shells into enclosed spaces and injuring many in a lathi charge to “control” the crowd.

As reports of police brutality emerged, students across the country began protesting and condemned the police’s actions. The Wire has compiled a list of universities and institutes where student protests have been reported.

While students in Aligarh Muslim University protested the attack on JMI students, police also cracked down on them violently. As The Wire reported, an ambulance driver told that the police attacked the wounded and were refusing to let them go. He said that more than 100 students were injured in the violence.

In Hyderabad’s Maulana Azad National Urdu University, the students union decided to boycott the scheduled semester examinations. The Union’s resolution said that the students are planning to protest the Delhi police’s alleged violence against JMI and AMU students and requested the administration to postpone the exam.

According to The News Minute, protests have also been planned in IIT Madras, Pondicherry University and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore. Reports also said that the Students’ Federation of India, the students wing of the CPI(M), will hold protests in Trichy, Coimbatore and Tiruvallur to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Students of IIT Bombay also held a protest march against the violence.

Students of IIT Kanpur has planned a protest at 2 pm on Tuesday to express solidarity with the students of JMI, according to reports.

According to Scroll, students of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) decided to boycott their classes to protest the violence in Delhi on Sunday night. Students sang the patriotic song ‘Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna’, an ode to the freedom fighters of the Indian independence movement written by Bismil Azimabadi.

Students of Jadavpur University, West Bengal held a midnight march against the violence and said they condemned the “brutal state terror on the students of Jamia Millia Islamia University”.

At the Banaras Hindu University, students also reportedly protested the violence.

The University of Hyderabad also held a flash protest against the violence. According to reports, the students’ union will announce its plan to protest the violence, the Citizenship Act and the NRC soon. The university has become increasingly fortified in the aftermath of the Rohith Vemula movement in 2016, with police regularly being deployed to prevent students from protesting.