FIR against Aligarh Muslim University students for protest march backing Palestine

An FIR was registered against the students of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) by the Aligarh police on Monday, October 9, for taking out a protest march in support of Palestine and Hamas on campus late Sunday, October 8, night, stated a report in The New Indian Express.

The case was registered on the basis of the complaint given by the local police station incharge.

Placards read...
Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine, various videos of about 400 AMU students of different streams chanting slogans in support of Palestine have been going viral on social media. As per the sources, during the protest, the students resorted to sloganeering such as "We stand for Palestine, AMU stands for Palestine."

Their move was countered by Bajrang Dal workers, who also protested against the attack on Israel and burnt the effigy of Hamas militiamen.

While India has strongly condemned the Hamas attack on Israel, with PM Narendra Modi calling it a terror attack, the march by AMU students came under the scanner of not only the district police authorities but also the university administration.

The sources claimed that the pro-Palestine Muslim students were chanting slogans like Allah-u-Akbar, la ilaha illallah and Naar-e-Tadbir carrying placards with slogans against Israel and in support of Palestine. One such placard said, 'AMU stand with Palestine, Free Palestine, this land is Palestine, not Israel'.

Taking note of the protest march by the students on campus, SP City Mrigank Shekhar Pathak told the media persons that the issue was raised with the university authorities urging them to stop such activities on campus.

According to AMU Proctor Prof Wasim Ali, the students had not taken permission for the march on campus. The authorities concerned were consulting the vice-chancellor and a probe would be conducted to initiate a suitable action on the basis of the probe report.

Politicians speak
Meanwhile, a minister of state in Yogi Adityanath's cabinet Thakur Raghuraj Pratap Singh demanded to close the university where the students were taking a stand contrary to the nation's stand on the issue and that it amounted to sedition.

On the other hand, Aligarh MP Satish Gautam claimed that AMU students always created an atmosphere which would tarnish the image of the prestigious institution.