Delhi, Dec 16, TEN Network | ‘There has been an emotional loss. There has been a lot of property damage in the University as well, how will all this be compensated?’ said Jamia V-C Najma Akhtar while addressing the media on the violent clashes that took place in the National capital on Sunday against the recently passed Citizenship Act.
Najma Akhtar stated that an FIR will be filed against the entry of Police in the university campus. ‘You can rebuild the property but you cannot compensate for the things the students went through. We demand a high-level inquiry.’ Akhtar said while backing her students.
“Police entered the campus without permission. We will not tolerate police presence on campus. They scared our students with police brutality. There has been huge damage to university property,” Akhtar said at a press conference here.
Dismissing the death of students in the violence, Akhtar said none of the students died. However, she said that about 200 people were injured of which many were Jamia students.
“We will file FIR on the damage of property and police action on students, we want high-level inquiry. I will present facts to the HRD Minister,” she added.
Akhtar said the university should not be targeted and its image should not be maligned.
Earlier on Monday, Najma Akhtar shared a video message, in which she told her students they are not alone in these ‘difficult times’.
‘Police entering the campus without any prior permission, lathi charging the students who were sitting in the library is not acceptable…’ she said in her message.
The V-C expressed her ire over the alleged assault on students of the varsity, saying she was ‘deeply hurt by the way they were treated.’
Condemning the police action, Najma Akhtar said that the students who were inside the library have been moved out and they are safe now.
‘I will raise this issue as much as I can and also take this matter forward as long it’s possible. You are not alone and don’t be disheartened,’ Najma Akhtar assured her students who have started vacating their hostel fearing more violent clashes.
Jamia University had turned into a battlefield on Sunday evening after police entered the campus and used force following a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
According to students, the police used batons and teargas to contain violence. Almost 100 students were detained by the Police around 10 pm from Jamia who were later released around 3.30 am on Monday morning.
The protest was being held against the contentious Citizenship Act which seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslims religious minorities from three neighbouring countries who arrived in India to escape religious persecution.
Protests against CAA 2019 have swept across Indian universities with AMU, Hyderabad University and other student bodies raising their voice. (NIE)
