After varsity's regret, Jamia students end stir

Chief proctor promises that such incidents won't recur

In a curious turn of events, Jamia Millia Islamia students on Wednesday called off their protest after the university administration expressed regret over the August 13 police raids on the boys hostels and assured them that  such incidents would not be allowed to take place in future.

“I am disturbed at the recent incidents on the campus. Some students have been protesting against the unauthorised presence of four police personnel in plain clothes outside the hall of residence of the boys, which was a security lapse. I empathise with the students for the hardships that they have faced during the period,” Chief Proctor Mehtab Alam stated in a letter addressed to students.

Assuring the students that such an incidents would not be allowed to take place again, he admitted that the safety and security of all the Jamia students were the “utmost priority” of the university administration.

“All preventive measures will be taken to ensure that such incidents do not occur in future,” he said.

Accepting the demand of the agitating students, he also assured them that no disciplinary action will be taken against any of those who participated in the protests.

The students ended their stir after taking out a victory march on the varsity campus. A small section of the students, however, remained dissatisfied with the proctor’s assurance, refusing to relent.

They, however, were pacified by other students and convinced to end the protest.Amber Fatmi, one of the students spearheading the protest, said that the students will ensure that promises made by the varsity administration are delivered.

Though the students claimed in a written statement to the university that they were calling off their protest because the varsity administration accepted their demands, university sources said that their protest came to an end because one of the student groups moved out on Tuesday night in protest against a proposal for calling Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar to address the protesters on Jamia campus.

“In such circumstances, the Leftist students have been left with no other option but to end their strike as they did not have adequate numbers to continue with it. The varsity administration also was also reaching out to the students for peace on the campus,” they added.

In a statement, Jamia’s deputy media coordinator Saima Saeed claimed that the students of the Boys Hostel gave in writing that there was no raid of police personnel but it was only a security breach which created an atmosphere of fear among the residents of the hostel. Students, however, rejected Saeed’s claim.

“We have called off our strike because our demands have been met,” Farhan, a student leader, told DH.