Four years after CAA stir, Jamia students decry police action

During the gathering at Jamia Millia Islamia’s gate number 7, students recounted the ordeal of police action and the crackdown on students.

Demonstrators protest against the CAA and NRC near Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi on Monday.FILE- In this Feb 2020 image, demonstrators protest against the CAA and NRC near Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi on Monday. (Photo | Parveen Negi/EPS)By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of students of the Jamia Millia Islamia University on Saturday assembled in the campus to commemorate the police violence against students protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act and other ‘discriminatory’ citizenship policies on the same day in 2019.

The dates December 15 and December 16, 2019 hold historical significance for Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim Universities. That is when both campuses had witnessed police violence, with students enduring brutal attacks by the police machinery, resulting in many students getting injured.

During the gathering at Jamia Millia Islamia’s gate number 7, students recounted the ordeal of police action and the crackdown on students.Posters carried by the students conveyed a message: “You can bring tears to our eyes, not fear to our hearts.”

Student groups including Fraternity Movement, AISA, AIRSO, MSF, DISSC, SFI, SFD, NSU(I), AISF, CRJD, MSU, GIO and SIO, organized the protest and the student leaders from these groups addressed the gathering.

‘We will never forget police atrocity’; ‘Sab yaad rakha jayega..’; ‘Black day in the history of Jamia, CRJD demands release of all CAA-NRC protestors’ read some of the posters held by the students. Amid the protest, students also vocalized support for Palestine through slogans.

Following the rally’s conclusion at gate number 7, where students displayed placards against CAA NRC and the university attack, the participants peacefully dispersed.

SFI unit of Jamia posted on X, “Today marks 4 years to the day when Delhi police unleashed their brutality on the students of Jamia. SFI JMI remembers the brave students of Jamia who stood strong as the symbol of resistance against CAA NRC in the country.”

Courtesy: TNIE

Note: This news piece was originally published in newindianexpress.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights.