Police Entered Campus Without Permission, Want High-Level Probe: Jamia VC

New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamia Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar on Monday said the university would not tolerate police presence on campus and demanded a high-level inquiry into the crackdown on students.

Akhtar also made it clear that the Jamia administration would not allow any political person to visit the university and will only coordinate with the Human Resource Development Ministry.

"Police entered the campus without permission. We will not tolerate police presence on campus. They scared our students with police brutality. There has been huge damage to university property," Akhtar said at a press conference here.

"We will file FIR on damage of property and police action on students, we want high level inquiry. I will present facts to the HRD Minister. I have already spoken to the HRD Secretary and briefed him about the situation," she added.

Akhtar addressed the media after the university's Executive Council (EC) meeting called on Monday to discuss the issue.

"What about the damage to the psyche of students? The appeal will be made to HRD Minister to ascertain who was at fault about yesterday's crackdown. We had already declared vacation because we wanted our students safe….We are not forcing any student to vacate hostels. We will facilitate it. We are making an assessment of the damage. We are not connected to any political outfit and will not allow anyone to come here," she said.

Jamia Registrar A P Siddiqui said, "It was a war-like situation. We questioned the Joint Commissioner of Police about firing and they denied it. There was no stone-pelting on cops from inside the campus by students. If some outsider has done so, we have no means to verify it."

Students Protest Police Action

Braving the freezing cold on Monday morning, hundreds of students poured into the streets outside the Jamia Millia Islamia here to protest the police action against their colleagues a day earlier.

The protesters included women students from several states. Local residents and some guardians also came out in the support of protesting students.

A group of students stood shirtless in the bone-chilling cold outside the university gates in the morning as gusts of icy, cold wind felt like blows on their bare bodies. Others formed a human chain in huge numbers to protest against the "police brutality".

Slogans of "Inquilab Zindabad" rent the air as protesting students took out a march, demanding a CBI inquiry into the "police brutality".

Carrying a tricolour, students clapped and raised slogans against the central government and the Delhi Police. "This government is anti-minority, anti-students, anti-poor. We won't tolerate this. Won't keep mum," they said in unison.

A few also live-streamed the protest on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms.

A group of students claimed that the police on Sunday damaged two mosques on the university campus, beat up the Imam and also a blind student, Arsalan (27), who was in the library.

Anas Siddiqui, a student, added that the police called them "terrorists" and dared them to come out of the campus and face them.

"Our colleagues have been beaten up badly. The policemen entered bathrooms, libraries and beat up girls. Our protest is against the goons called Delhi Police," a research scholar, who did not want to be identified, said on Monday.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and university Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar did not even bother to visit the injured students, the protesters alleged.

Earlier, when a few women escorted an injured student to narrate their ordeal to the media, some people were seen asking them not to give any statements.

"We were inside the university when the police barged in. Around 20 policemen came from gate no 7 and 50 others came from the rear gate. We told them we were not involved in the violence. They didn't listen. They didn't even spare women," Khanzala, who suffered injuries to the legs and abdomen, said.

A women broke down as Khanzala showed his injuries to the media.

Abdur Rehman, a student of the physiotherapy department, claimed that hospitals in the locality, barring Holy Family, denied treatment to the injured students.

Rakshanda, another student, alleged that the police failed to control the violence on Sunday and targeted them when they could do nothing about the actual culprits.

The protesters alleged that two specially-abled students were also attacked during the police action, as they shared videos among themselves.

A few students and locals were seen clearing the roads to allow smooth movement of vehicles.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police denied media reports of firing. “There was no firing, no casualties in Jamia violence,” Delhi Police PRO MS Randhawa said.