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Protests reached the prestigious Delhi University on Monday, 16 December, a day after clashes between police and students rocked Jamia Milia Islamia.
The agitation at DU’s North campus started at the Faculty of Social Science, with several students reportedly deciding to boycott exams and hold protests to express solidarity with their counterparts in Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University. Soon, however, there was unrest as students alleged that members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) caused trouble.
“We came in the morning to give our exam paper, but we saw that police started misbehaving with the 10-15 students who were protesting. We then decided that we also have to protest here against the violence in Jamia. Then, around 60-70 of us students gathered and started sloganeering peacefully. Later, 4-5 goons of the ABVP came with sticks and started beating (us up). Around 70-80 police personnel were there, but the goons were beating us up. We saw the police talking to those who were beating us up. The police didn’t give us any protection,” a student on the campus told The Quint.
Later, police personnel were seen forcibly taking some students out of the Faculty of Social Science area. Soon after, crowds gathered at the nearby Arts Faculty area raising slogans amid heavy police presence.
‘Vandalism, Stopping Students from Giving Exams Condemnable’
On the other hand, the ABVP claimed that it was the other side that engaged in vandalism and attempted to stop students from giving exams in the name of protest.
Condemning the “attempts by fanatics, leftist-Maoists and anti-national forces to mislead students, and attempts to create anarchy and violent protests across the country in the garb of Citizenship Amendment Act,” the students’ group said:
“The violent nature of the protests show that Maoist forces are inciting students across the country’s universities to spread violence. ABVP opposes this. Along with that, in Delhi University, the vandalism and attempt to stop students from giving exams in the name of protest is condemnable.”ABVP
Meanwhile, the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) condemned "the attack on academic process of the university by student groups in a move of forcefully preventing students from appearing in examinations [sic]."
Keeping a Watch, Didn’t Use Force: Police
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), Monika Bhardwaj, was quoted by PTI as saying that some students were stopping others from taking exams and police were there keeping a watch. The officer also added that no student was detained and that they did not use force on anyone.
Some students, however, slammed the police for not being able to protect them from being beaten up allegedly by those belonging to the ABVP.
“The worst part is when you question the police, they are somehow justifying their (those from the ABVP) violence. I don’t know why, but they are like ‘if you were protesting, that’s what the they (those from the ABVP) will do.’ What kind of a statement is that?” another student on campus told The Quint.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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