The library of Jamia Millia Islamia was where Mohammed Mustafa spent a lot of his time. Every night, he'd go there at 9 pm and go back to his room at 12 am. In those three hours, he read extensively, preparing to write the upcoming UPSC examination. He may be cursing his fate and his time, that he was present inside the library on the night of December 15, when the Delhi Police barged inside the building.
This 26-year-old student remembers being beaten up by at least 20 policemen on Sunday night. Both his arms are fractured. He has an injury on his skull. However, more than the physical pain, what hurts Mustafa is the fact that he won't be able to write the UPSC examination next year. "The library's door was locked. But the policemen broke it open and barged in. I got scared and raised both my hands, indicating that I'm not going to retaliate. But they beat me on both my hands," Mustafa tells us over a phone call. His friend had answered his phone and had put it on speaker.
The lathi next struck his head and he impulsively ran out of the building on that chilly night, leaving his broken laptop, books and jacket inside the building. "On the way back, more police officers beat me up, despite me pleading them to leave me alone," he says. "After a point, I thought that I was losing my conscious. I feared that I would die. Then, the police detained around 17 of us and took us to the New Friends Colony police station," he says.
He tells us that he was given medical attention only after 2 am at night. "We sat on the cold floor for hours. They did not even have enough water for us to drink. In between, I even heard policemen say that they do not care if two or three (students) die," says Mustafa, who is pursuing his Master's in Social exclusion and inclusive policy.
Mustafa is physically tired and is in a lot of pain. But mentally and emotionally, he is disappointed, scared and has lost all his belief in the police. "I always believed in our policemen. They have let me down. I'm scared being a Muslim and being a citizen of this country," he says. He tells us that the police had released all the students only after a few human rights activists intervened at around 3 am in the morning. The students were sent to their hostels at 6.30 am. "I did not go to the hostel. I'm at a friend's house in a location that I cannot disclose. I am scared. Anything could happen to me there," he says.
