AMU to be closed till Jan 5; All Delhi strike on Dec 16

Political leaders from Congress and Left parties joined students of Jamia Millia Islamia University in protesting outside Delhi police headquarters against the police action against students even as Aligarh Muslim University in the bordering Uttar Pradesh decided to close down till January 5 due to protest violence.

All India Joint forum comprising of Left backed student unions and other organisations condemned the police action against Jamia students saying "this was a planned attack" and announced to give "student strike in all Delhi".

Lending their weight behind JMIU students’ protest, CPI’s D Raja and CPI-M’s Brinda Karat raised questions on the police entry into JMIU without the University’s permission. JNU Student Union also joined the protest along with teachers of Delhi University.

In Aligarh, as clashes were reported after protests, the internet was blocked and the winter vacation of the University that was to commence from next week, was preponed.

AMU Registrar Abdul Hamid said that the University administration has decided to close down the campus till January 5 “Winter vacation was preponed for one week and University will remain closed till January 5 starting from today,” he said.

The Registrar said that the administration has appealed to students to re-join campus only after Winter. He said the University administration has also requested the District Magistrate so that buses can be arranged for the transportation of students. “We have also talked to Railway Authorities,” he said.

The Registrar said this had to be done as the protest had turned violent.

Brinda Karat, who joined the JMIU students protesting with placards outside Delhi PHQ came down heavily at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks earlier during the day in a rally in Jharkhand in which he had said that those behind the arson can be identified with their clothes.