Two students of Jamia Millia Islamia have alleged they were thrashed and manhandled by the university's security guards for protesting against an event where members of the Israeli government were present. The students were picked up by the guards, allegedly on the chief proctor's advise, after which they were pushed, beaten and kicked.
The incident is said to have happened on October 5, when the university organised 'Global Health Zenith: Confluence-19' on medical infrastructure planning. Israel was the country partner for the same. Unhappy with this, a few students protested in front of the university's Gate 4. "We showed them black flags and placards which had slogans in solidarity with Palestine written on them. After that, we dispersed," says one of the two students.
"Later, a few members of the proctorial team had asked us if we were protesting. When we said yes, they asked us to get inside their jeep to go to the Chief Proctor's room. When we said that we'll walk with them, they pushed us inside the jeep. They assaulted us physically. Our hair was pulled and phones were broken," he says. The students were then allegedly locked inside the proctor's room.
"Even inside the room, we were surrounded by 17-18 guards who pushed, slapped and kicked us. Our fellow protestors were outside and the same guards tried to snatch their placards," he says. "Later, when we complained about the same to the proctor, he said that the same will happen to us if we protest for everything," he adds.
The students are yet to lodge a police complaint about the same. They said that the university administration, however, promised to take appropriate action against the guards after checking the CCTV footage. "However, they can easily erase the footage they do not want. We have no trust in this," says the student.
We have asked the Jamia Milia administration for comment and the copy will be updated when they respond.
