Students of Jamia Millia Islamia held a large protest inside the campus on December 15 to mark six years since the violence against students in 2019. The protest was organised to remember the day when Delhi Police entered the university campus and allegedly assaulted students during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
On December 15, 2019, Delhi Police and paramilitary forces entered Jamia’s campus, including the Zakir Hussain Library, and used force against students. Several students suffered serious injuries, some of them life threatening.
On Sunday, more than 500 students gathered under the banner of different student organisations. Even before the protest began, police presence was heavy outside Gate Number 7 of the university, and identity cards of students were being checked strictly.
The protest began in the evening at the central canteen, where students raised slogans against police brutality and state repression. Student leaders addressed the gathering and demanded the immediate release of student activists who remain in jail for their role in protests. They also demanded compensation for students whose education and lives were severely affected after the 2019 violence.
Nausheen Farooque, General Secretary of the Fraternity Movement at Jamia, spoke about the impact of the police action. “In 2019, student protests started in the girls’ hostel led by student leaders such as Ayisha Renna and Ladeeda Farzana. The way the state government used police to crush the voice of dissent caused serious physical and mental distress among students. One student has lost his eyesight. Politicians provided promises to the affected ones. But all the promises are in vain and none of the victims received any kind of justice.”
After the speeches, students marched around the campus in a rally and stopped in front of the Zakir Hussain Library to remember the place where police had stormed in six years ago. The protest concluded late in the evening with students singing songs of resistance and raising slogans, reiterating their resolve to continue speaking out against what they described as unlawful actions by the government.
