Hurt by the way students were treated, I’m with them: VC Jamia Milia Islamia

A man walks on a street as a bus is on fire following a demonstration against the Indian government's Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in New Delhi on December 15, 2019. (Photo by STR / AFP)


After the night of violence that took over Delhi’s Jamia Milia Islamia University where Delhi Police entered the hostels and library and threw tear gas shells and lathicharged students, Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar has said that she is hurt by the way her students were treated.

“I am hurt by the way my students were treated. I want to let my students know that they are not alone in this fight. I am with them. I will take this matter forward as long its possible,” Jamia University Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar said in a video message.

Rules require the police to take permission from the university authorities before entering campus. Hundreds of people who had gathered outside the Delhi Police Headquarters in protest have dispersed after the students were released.

In video footage, students can be seen walking on the pavement of main road holding their hands above their heads while cops hurried and hassled them away.

In a similar violent incident, students of Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh were also beaten up in the college. Video footage showed UP Police deliberately vandalising students’ vehicles.

Internet services were also snapped in the city. The violence began as students tried to hold a solidarity march to express sympathy with the Jamia students, who had faced a police crackdown after their protest ended in a pitched battle with cops.