Jamia alumni files complaint over police action on campus

Taking note of multiple video clips that surfaced in the past couple of days, Jamia Millia Islamia’s alumni association on Tuesday filed a police complaint against

Taking note of multiple video clips that surfaced in the past couple of days, Jamia Millia Islamia’s alumni association on Tuesday filed a police complaint against purported police brutality against students in the university library.

HT Image

This came on a day when Delhi Police filed a charge sheet in the violence on December 15 last year during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) when several vehicles were gutted near New Friends Colony. The attack on Jamia students happened after police barged into the campus when they were “pursuing rioters”. Several students and non-teaching staff alleged that the police brutally beat up students and damaged university property.

“... As yet, no action has been initiated by the concerned police authorities to identify the guilty officials/personnel involved and no action against such personnel has been initiated,” the Alumni Association of Jamia Millia Islamia wrote in its complaint.

Since the incident, the Jamia administration and student community has been demanding action against police personnel. Their demands have only grown louder following the multiple closed-circuit television footages that surfaced this week showing police personnel beating students and damaging CCTV cameras.

“The police worked swiftly when it came to case related to destruction of public property during the clashes that took place near New Friends Colony that day. But I filed a complaint against the police action on January 23. The have not even assigned an investigating officer to probe my complaint. It was only after CCTV footage came out, that the crime branch came today to question us,” said Mohammad Mustafa, a postgraduate student, who suffered fractures allegedly during the police lathicharge. “The police is trying to shield the people who were involved in this.”

Jamia administration had also moved court for registration of FIR against Delhi police after there was no response to their multiple complaints. “We had filed multiple complaints over the unauthorised entry of police personnel into the campus, destruction of university property, and police excesses against our students. Following repeated demands made by students, we moved court in the matter and the police have been asked to submit an action taken report by March 16,” said university media coordinator Ahmad Azeem.