Why JNU in 2016 Is Reminiscent of Jamia in 2008

A final year Jamia student back in 2008, Alam writes about how JNU today reminds him of the post Batla House days.

JNU 2016 bears a lot of similarities to Jamia in 2008 post the infamous Batle House ‘Encounter’. (Photo: PTI)

It was late in the evening in the last week of September 2008 and I had to take an auto from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to Jamia Nagar. I was accompanied by a lawyer friend whom I had gone to meet at the university. We must have asked a couple of auto-wallahs, but were met with flat refusals. I thought of asking for New Friends Colony, an upscale locality in south Delhi and a stone’s throw from Jamia Nagar. One agreed instantly. My lawyer friend couldn’t stop himself from asking the driver about the general refusal to go to Jamia Nagar.

“Kya batayen sir, darr lagta hai. Udhar mullah, kat*a, aatankwadi log rahte hai. Aapne suna nahi, wahan se kayi aatankwadi pakde gaye hain aur wahan encounter bhi hua tha pichhle hafte (What do I tell you sir, I am scared to go. Muslims, terrorists stay there. Didn’t you hear that many terrorists were caught from that area, and there was an encounter as well last week?),” the auto-wallah informed.

Jamia Fear Psychosis Less, But Hasn’t Gone Away’

Jamia Nagar as the “Nursery of Terror” post Batla House. JNU has been accused on similar lines. (Photo: facebook.com/JNUDelhi)

Following the media trial in the wake of the Batla House ‘Encounter’ on 19 September 2008, there were concentrated efforts by right-wing political forces to brand Jamia Nagar as the “Nursery of Terror”, the more grievous fallout was that the children and youth from the area were teased and targeted and denied admissions and jobs.

Refusal to deliver services became the norm and those students of Jamia, who were staying outside Jamia Nagar on rent, were asked to vacate their rooms by the landlords. It was even more harrowing for students and youth from Azamgarh. There was a sense of fear and terror in the air as people were being picked up indiscriminately on an every-day basis in the name of ‘questioning’. An atmosphere of ‘who’s next’ plagued the minds of the people. Young people were scared of going out and parents fearful for their children’s safety. This situation lasted for more than six months, and though the fear psychosis is far less, it has still not gone down completely.

‘JNU Called Pakistan, Jamia Still Called Mini-Pakistan”

‘People started referring to it as “Pakistan”, Jamia Nagar is still referred to as mini-Pakistan.’ (Photo: AP) 

Having been a regular visitor to JNU, the crackdown on JNU and its students last month immediately brought a sense of déjà vu of the situation in Jamia Nagar and its neighbourhood in 2008. There were striking similarities between the two. Never in my wildest thoughts had I imagined that something similar could happen in JNU. Students of JNU staying outside the campus were being asked to vacate their rooms. Auto-wallahs started refusing to go to JNU. People started referring to it as “Pakistan”, Jamia Nagar is still referred to as mini-Pakistan.

There was a sense of anxiety, fear and terror in the air while the remarkable fight for justice and the #StandwithJNU campaign was on. Such was the fear that ordinary people had started avoiding mentioning JNU. And why not? Random people were being targeted, detained for hours at police stations because they looked like “JNU wallahs”. There were vigilante groups outside the main gate of JNU in Munirka and other adjacent areas. Students going to Munirka complained of being followed as they left the main gate of the campus. The right wing left no stone unturned in organising protests against JNU, especially outside Delhi Metro stations close to the campus. Loud speakers played speeches that incited hatred against the students while labelling them anti-nationals. Solidarity marches outside the campus in support of JNU were matched with protests and counter-mobilisations, not just in Delhi but in different parts of the country.

Professors were attacked (one even shot at in Gwalior), effigies were burnt for sharing articles, speaking out against the criminalisation of dissent and witch-hunt at JNU. It had taken four decades to build a space for democratic dissent and debate but over a few days, JNU was reduced to a space for criminalising dissent and debate.

‘I Asked My Wife To Remove the JNU Sticker From Her Car’

It might sound hyper and ridiculous but I had to ask my wife (who is a research scholar at JNU) to remove the JNU sticker from the car to avoid trouble. The crackdown has changed people’s lives, routine and perception drastically. I was travelling in the Delhi Metro a few days ago when I heard someone ask his acquaintance loudly, “JNU main rahe ho kya?” “Yaar, sare-aam pitwaoge kya,” came the reply. Having been through this twice, I can only hope that it doesn’t repeat itself again, to another JNU or another Jamia.

(Mahtab Alam is a Delhi-based activist and writer. He blogs at mahtabnama.wordpress.com and can be chased on twitter @MahtabNama)