Protesters removed from JMI campus, varsity says ‘self-defence’

The university's action led to another sit-in outside the campus amid heavy police deployment.

New Delhi: Even as reports emerged of three of Jamia Millia Islamia’s students being rusticated, it is learnt that the protesters were also forcibly removed from the campus early Saturday, October 17, an action the varsity said was taken in ‘self-defence’.

The university’s action led to another sit-in outside the campus amid heavy police deployment, reported The Times of India.

The administration had already served notices to protesters for allegedly inciting others to assemble at Ghalib Lawn, the protest site, “for congregational Friday prayers instead of offering namaz at nearby mosques”. It said that such a gathering would affect “campus discipline, peace and communal harmony”.

University’s response

In response to the protesters’ demand for elections, the university said it has ensured student representation by having elections at different university centres. “Since 2006, we have had subject associations, in which a representative for each centre is elected through voting. There is no question of students being without representation. This system works better than a centrally elected union,” the report quoted an official as saying.

Meanwhile, around 5.30 am on Saturday, protesters said the university’s security switched off the lights, manhandled them, and even dragged them out before handing them over to the Delhi Police.

While the detained students were released, videos on social media showed a large gathering outside the gates, shaking it till it gave in, and storming into the campus as police tried stopping the crowd.

According to the police, no student was detained; only those who tried breaking the gate were removed from the site.

A university official, who did not want to be named, said security personnel acted “in self-defence”, alleging that guards had been abused and their clothes torn.