Fourteen students of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) were on Thursday detained by the police for vandalising “public property” and “disturbing law and order”, an officer said.
The detainees were among the students protesting against the university administration since Monday over show-cause notices to four students for organising a demonstration on December 15, 2024, the fifth anniversary of the Jamia violence.
The university suspended seven students for holding “unlawful protests” and engaging in “vandalism”.
The protesters said around 5.30 a.m., they were dragged out of the protest site – central canteen – and hustled into three police buses parked outside the university’s main gate.
A source said the university administration called police to remove the students from the protest site to “maintain law and order”.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) Ravi Kumar Singh said all the 14 students – nine women and five men – were released later in the day.
The police maintained that “they did not enter the university campus” with the clear direction from university’s Vice Chanceller Prof. Mazhar Asif.
The DCP added that Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed around the university to maintain law and order.
The university, in an official statement, said the action was “preventative measures” as the protesting students were “disturbing” the peaceful conduct of classes and had “vandalised the public property”.
“They [protesters] have not only disturbed the peaceful conduct of classes in the academic block of the university but also prevented other students from accessing the Central Library, attending classes at a time when mid-semester exams are about to begin at JMI campus,” the university said.
“They vandalised university property, including the central canteen and broke the gate of the security advisor. Despite an open offer to discuss demands, students refused to talk to the administration,” it added.
Conversely, Saurabh, a protester who was among the detainees, said that, contrary to the university’s claim, no public property was vandalised, but the locked door of the washroom near the protest site broke open as students were facing difficulties, and the administration was not reopening it.
“Our protest will continue until the suspension notices are revoked,” he added.
Sonakshi, one of the students who received a suspension notice, said, “Students used to observe the Remembrance Day [December 15] earlier too, but no action was taken.”
An official order in November last year made holding meetings, gatherings, and dharnas without the university’s prior permission a punishable offence.
Published – February 14, 2025 01:34 am IST