Anjali Sharma and Abhigyan Gandhi, leaders of the All India Students' Association (AISA), have claimed that they were "detained" by the Delhi police on 30 June, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the University of Delhi for its centenary celebrations.
Gandhi, a resident of Kalyan Vihar in north Delhi, told The Quint, "Around 9.30 am on Friday, some officers from the Model Town police station came to our house and asked us to accompany them to the police station. When we refused, they detained us inside the house. We weren't allowed to leave for hours. It was only around 1.30 pm that they left."
Sharma, who is a also a resident of Kalyan Vihar, too, took to Twitter and claimed that the police converted the North Campus into a "cantonment" ahead of the Prime Minister's visit.
She also shared a photo of Delhi Police officials sitting outside her house.
The locality where Gandhi and Sharma live falls under the jurisdiction of DCP (North West) Jitendra Kumar Meena. He told The Quint, "I am not aware of any such detentions."
'Who is The PM Scared of?': AISA Leaders
In a video message recorded from his home, Gandhi narrated the chronology of events.
"The PM visited the University today to participate in its centenary celebrations. From early in the morning, we started receiving messages that the police was rounding up student activists on campus. Then suddenly, they came to our house and asked for our details. Next, we were told that we might have to accompany them to the police station. When we refused, they said they'd stay back. What is the PM scared of... That a student might question him about inflation or fee hike in DU?" he asked in the video.
'Detained on Arbitrary Grounds': AISA In Letter to SDM
In a letter written to the Subdivisional Magistrate of Delhi, AISA President N Sai Balaji alleged that the detention was illegal and the police officers "refused to show any written orders" regarding the same.
"We request the police personnel to present the order for preventive detention. Otherwise, the detention should be considered illegal confinement along with a breach of personal space and privacy," the letter said.
DU Academic Council Registers Protest Against PM's Visit
In a letter dated 30 June, DU's Academic Council registered a protest against the Prime Minister's visit to the campus.
"PM Modi is the face of a ruling dispensation which has been overseeing the enforcement of several anti-student, anti-teacher and anti-people policies. In our own university (DU), the present regime has silently watched, if not orchestrated through hand-picked education bureaucrats, a massive turmoil unfold in terms of a growing job crisis, huge problems with respect to the CUET, as well as the hurriedly designed and implemented four-year undergraduate program," the letter read.
Several members of the Academic Council also alleged that they were not extended a formal invitation to the valedictory program.
"In a serious violation of democratic rights, the authorities have snuffed out any form of dissent which would expose the visiting PM to questions about his regime's accountability. In this light, we find that several Academic Council members were not extended a formal invitation to the valedictory program; that colleges were instructed to create a captive audience of students and staff as well as to implement directives against the wearing of black clothes so as to erase any signs of dissent; that several colleges issued directives for compulsory attendance; and that the police denied teachers and students any space to register their protest," the letter added.
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