With new developments emerging from the statements given by students of Jamia Milia Islamia who were brutally attacked on Sunday night by Delhi Police, more than 100 students of Harvard University have written an open letter to the government, condemning Sunday’s attack and also voicing concerns on the new Citizenship law.
The Harvard students showed solidarity with the students of Jamia Millia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), stressing that that “protest and dissent are inherent to democracy.”
“Protests are inconvenient and disruptive, but they sustain the secular and democratic fabric of our nation,” the letter reads.
“The violent suppression of protesters by the police, the use of teargas, lathi charges, and physical assault in response to peaceful dissent, and the police forces’ forceful entry into university campuses and consequent Internet blockades there are all deeply reprehensible,” the Harvard students said.
The campus protests have gained massive support across the nation after Delhi Police tear-gassed and allegedly fired gunshots at some students on Sunday night without any permission from the campus authorities.
On Tuesday Delhi Police detained ten suspects involved in the Jamia violence case and in its statement, the police said, “People arrested have a criminal background, none of them are Jamia students”.
University Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar on Monday addressed the media where she condemned the attack especially on the students who were studying in the college library and were not part of the protesting students.
She further said that the “students suffered an emotional loss” and questioned who will bear the responsibility for the same. “There has been a lot of property damage in the University, how will all this be compensated? There has been an emotional loss as well. Yesterday’s incident was unfortunate. I also appeal to everyone to not believe in any kind of rumours,” the VC told media.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police which comes under the Union Home Ministry, denied the use of bullet firing however medical reports of the attacked students suggest otherwise.