E-Paper
At Jamia, students prepare for semester exam, new beginning
New Delhi
New Delhi
Academic life at Jamia Millia Islamia has picked up pace with the semester examinations beginning today. On Wednesday, students were seen sitting outside the Zakir Husain Library, where policemen had allegedly damaged property and assaulted students following a violent protest against the amended citizenship law on December 15. The library is now off limits for the students and a green cloth covers the shattered glass doors of the library.
While police denies entering the library premises, university officials have maintained that the library was damaged by police personnel.
“We are sitting outside the library because this is our place. Sukoon hai yahan ek,” said Mohammad Mobashir Alam, an undergraduate student of Arabic. “We want the reading hall to open soon as the library has a great collection of books and we cannot buy them.”
With a stacks capacity for about six lakh books, Zakir Husain Library is the biggest library on campus with space to accommodate over 1,000 students. “There are so many e-journals that we can access only from here and our department doesn’t have many books that are here. Since the library is closed for renovation work, it will definitely affect the preparation for our upcoming examination,” said Aqsa Parvez, a postgraduate student pursuing Women’s Studies. “We don’t even know if we will be charged a late fee for not being able to return our books,” said her friend Samia Khan.
“I am going to my brother’s house for a few days since the entire hostel is almost empty these days and my roommates too aren’t there. After what happened in Jamia and JNU, girls are scared to return to the hostel,” said Afrin, 18, a first-year law student.
“We went through a hard time on December 15 when everyone was scared that police may enter hostels as well. All the lights in all the rooms were turned off and the girls locked the doors from inside. I can only think of coming back to the hostel once my roommates return,” she said.
Najma Hussain, another hosteller, said: “Some parents have decided to not send their daughters to the university till a day before the exam.”
Virda Javed, an undergraduate student who hails from Bulandshahr, said, “My exam is on January 29, my parents will not let me return before that. We used to believe that hostels are the safest places, but after what happened in AMU, Jamia and now in JNU, nothing feels safe now.”
