Jamia Students & Teachers Move NHRC For Action Against Police Violence In Campus

Three students (Rahul Kapoor, Qasim Usmani and Aquib Rizwan) and Prof. Majid Jamil, Secretary of the Teachers' Association of Jamia Milia Islamia University filed a complaint against the police brutality toward students at the National Human Rights Commission on Monday.

As per the complaint, on 15th December, a peaceful protest being conducted by the students of Jamia against the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, culminated in the use of excessive force in the form of lathicharge and tear gas shells by Delhi Police. The complaint added that multiple students were grievously injured, with one student losing an eye. Many more were detained with no access to medical or legal aid.

The act of police brutality set off a series of pan-India protests. The Supreme Court of India declined to entertain a petition seeking an inquiry into the the police brutality asking the petitioners to approach their respective High Courts. Later, the Delhi High Court issued notice on a similar petition and listed the matter on February 4th, 2020.

On Monday, in collaboration with Change.org (Madhuri Zutshi, campaign strategist) wherein a petition against police brutality accumulated more than 1.18 lakh signatures from around the world, students and teachers of Jamia approached the National Human Rights Commission to file their complaint.

Nida Hasan, Country Director of Change.org India stated, "The country is going through turmoil and we have seen numerous petitions being started in the past fortnight after the passage of the Constitution Amendment Act. This campaign by a student from Jamia Millia Islamia seeking an investigation into the police action inside the campus went viral. We hope that the NHRC will hear the demand of over a lakh people and take action. We hope to see a vibrant and participatory democracy where people's voices are heard."

The complaint, filed in the name of Rahul Kapoor, stipulates that "the police entered the university and lathicharged the students, fired tear gas and bullets at the students and also damaged the university library, hostel and other public places in the university."

It goes on to state that on the basis of the fact that the Jamia administration did not provide permission to the police to enter the campus and the latter did so forcefully, an immediate inquiry has to be initiated into the action of the police.

The students and the teacher also met Mr. Surjit Dey, Registrar of NHRC, who informed them that due process had already begun due to the number of complaints received regarding the incident on 15th December and that the Deputy Commissioner of Police has been directed to send in a report