Protests broke out at Jamia Millia Islamia Tuesday, with students opposing a programme marking 100 years of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on campus.
Heavy security was deployed outside the university gates on Tuesday afternoon, comprising both Delhi Police and CRPF personnel.
More than 100 students, many affiliated with the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students’ Association (AISA), gathered outside the Faculty of Engineering and Technology auditorium, where the RSS-linked ‘Yuva Kumbh’ event was scheduled. Protesters raised slogans and blocked access to the venue, delaying the programme.
A statement issued by the SFI’s Jamia unit claimed the campus had been placed under “heavy police deployment and heightened security,” which, it described, as turning the university into a “militarised zone” to facilitate the event.
The student group alleged that while the administration eventually went ahead with the programme for a brief period, it also ordered university guards to disperse the protest.
The SFI statement claimed more than 50 students were injured while being forcibly removed from the protest site. It further claimed that Atikur Rehman, joint secretary of the SFI’s Jamia unit, was “brutally assaulted,” and that women students were manhandled by male security personnel.
The student group also alleged that senior university officials, including the Vice-Chancellor, attended the programme and entered the venue through a rear entrance while clashes were unfolding outside.
“SFI Jamia strongly condemns both the hosting of this programme and the violence inflicted on students,” the statement said. It further demanded accountability from the administration for “enabling violence against students”.
Official sources at Jamia said, “The allegations are false. No manhandling took place. There were barely 50 people protesting. There is a specific earmarked area where students can protest at Jamia, we are not against protests. When it comes to the event in question, every department at Jamia is allowed to hold events, provided they are academic in nature with the help of two faculty members endorsing it. This can be across sections and ideologies.”
The protest comes months after a similar backlash erupted at over a dozen colleges under Delhi University for hosting similar events on their campuses.
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