A year on, Jamia still awaits justice for December 15 violence

On December 15, 2019, the campus of Delhi’s prestigious Jamia Millia Islamia was stormed by police in retaliation to an anti-citizenship law protest. They resorted to baton-charging and used tear gas as the campus turned into a battlefield exuding smoke and trauma.

A year later, with 2020 coming to an end, the university is still awaiting justice, with Delhi Police Cyber Cell yet to identify police personnel who had assaulted students on the fateful day.

Videos emerging following the incident had purportedly showed police baton-charging people inside the Jamia library and damaging a security camera and furniture, even as police have maintained they had entered the campus only after some of the protesters indulged in violence.

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In police stations in the South East district, SHOs were asked for their duty rosters on that day, reported The Indian Express quoting sources. It said an enquiry was ordered under the Additional CP (Cyber Cell) after the SIT suggested a probe into the conduct of police personnel.

In response to the incident, the Jamia administration had lodged a police complaint against the police action with the university also submitting a ₹2.66 crore bill to the MHRD, seeking compensation for damages incurred, besides demanding a high level probe into the incident.

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Jamia Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar told the media outlet they had written to the MHRD and pursued it further, and even moved court after an FIR was registered based on their complaint. However, the court is yet to give its decision in this regard.

The December 15 police action had triggered the iconic Shaheen Bagh protests in the national capital which went on to become a hotspot for anti-citizenship law protests across the country, inspiring similar sit-ins by Muslim women against the new law.