New Delhi, Oct 17 (PTI) Students protesting at Jamia Millia Islamia over the restoration of the students’ union entered the campus on Saturday amid a heavy police presence, with several detained before being released, student groups claimed.
The developments came hours after students on a hunger strike were allegedly forcibly removed from the campus before dawn on Saturday and subsequently suspended or rusticated by the university administration, according to the All India Students’ Association (AISA).
The students had been on strike in a call for the restoration of the student union, which had been dissolved in 2006.
AISA alleged that the students were removed around 5.30 am at the direction of Chief Proctor Asad Malik, claiming that campus lights were switched off and students were beaten, manhandled and dragged out before being handed over to the police.
The student group said all the detained students had been released and demanded Malik’s resignation, the immediate revocation of the suspension and rustication orders, restoration of the students’ union and an announcement of elections.
It also called for an independent inquiry into the alleged use of force and action against the officials and security personnel responsible.
Later in the day, students gathered outside the university, with a section of them entering the campus after gates that had remained closed for hours were opened, student representatives claimed. Delhi Police personnel were deployed in large numbers, and detentions began amid efforts to disperse those gathered outside, they said.
The detained students were taken to Jamia Nagar police station, according to student representatives, who later said all of them had been released.
A university official said Jamia already had a mechanism through which every department and centre had three elected student representatives who could raise students’ concerns.
The official said the administration was not opposed to the demand for a students’ union but claimed that no memorandum had been submitted to initiate the process.
“How can we start the process if no memorandum has been submitted? No committee can be formed,” the official said.
The official said one student had been rusticated for a year and barred from entering the campus, with the provision to appeal against the decision.
Two other students had been barred from the campus for six months, with their cases to be reviewed by the disciplinary committee, the official added.
The university’s disciplinary action has drawn criticism from AISA, which alleged that the administration had chosen coercive measures instead of dialogue with the protesting students. PTI AHD NB
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