Nikhil Gupta, National Representative and Coordinator of Research Scholars of India, has come up with a statement, lauding the Delhi police for handling the protests anti-NRC and CAA protests by the students of Jamia Millia Islamia. The statement issued on behalf of Research Scholars of India says that Delhi police were cooperative towards the researchers when they protested for a hike in their stipend, a year back.
"Our protests have always been peaceful and there has never been a riot-like situation. If/ when the students were detained, they have cooperated with the government and police and were offered tea and coffee," reads the statement. On January 16, 2019, around 2,000 research scholars across India were detained by the Delhi police for protesting outside the MHRD. Nikhil then said, "We were peacefully protesting in front of the MHRD head office when the police arrested us around 4 pm. We were packed into five buses and taken to different police stations including Mandir Marg Police Station and the Parliament Street Police Station."
"I am observing the events right now. Students are accusing the police of being cruel. So, there should be a reason behind these actions," says Nikhil. "The police never beat us like they are beating the students now. They were very cooperative," he says, adding that this could be the ideal situation for him to share his experience.
Why do the research scholars support the police, unlike other students? Nikhil says, "We have our own voice. It isn't necessary that we always support the popular notion. Why is everyone observing everything from one side? Look at the other side of events too. If you're protesting, protest peacefully."
Nikhil also tells us that he had shared the views of all the research scholars in the country. However, a lot of them refuted. A lot of members of a Facebook group titled Hike in Research Fellowship 2018 tells us that Nikhil's views do not represent their views. To this, Nikhil says, "All of them can only write on FB and Twitter. A few of them will obviously oppose. But I'm talking about the majority here."
