Jamia committee releases video of paramilitary personnel attacking students in library on Dec 15

Raising further questions about the police action in Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia in December, new CCTV footage surfaced in the wee hours of Sunday showing policemen in riot gear entering a library and beating up students.

The 44-second clip was posted on Twitter by the Jamia Coordination Committee, comprising students and alumni of the Jamia Millia Islamia, at 1:37 AM with Special Commissioner of Police (Intelligence) Praveer Ranjan saying that it has come to their knowledge and will investigate it as part of the ongoing probe into the 15 December, 2019 violence during anti-CAA protests.

"Exclusive CCTV Footage of Police Brutality in Old Reading Hall, First floor-M.A/M.Phill Section on 15/12/2019. Shame on you @DelhiPolice," the JCC tweeted along with the video.

A second video surfaced later in the evening in which students were seen entering the reading room and trying to block the passage by putting tables at the entry. A TV channel said this footage was shared by sources in the Delhi Police amid suggestions that some of the students who entered the reading room could be part of the violence.

In the footage, some policemen in riot gear were seen entering the reading hall and beating up students who were trying to take cover.

Police had faced flak for entering Jamia library, lobbing tear gas shells and baton-charging students, claiming that those who indulged in violence during the anti-CAA protests on December 15 had entered the college. Students and faculty accused the police of entering the campus without administration's permission and running riot in the campus.

The footage raised questions as to why the police targeted unarmed students and why they were not arrested or questioned in connection with the ongoing probe.

The release of the video immediately attracted condemnation of police action with Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra saying if no action is taken, the government's intentions would stand exposed.

"Look at how Delhi Police is blindly assaulting students in the library. A boy is flashing his book but the policeman is continuing to attack him with batons. Home Minister (Amit Shah) and Delhi Police lied when they said students were not beaten up in the library. If no action is taken even after watching this Jamia video, the government's intentions would stand exposed before the whole country," she tweeted.

Describing the incident as "unconscionable and unacceptable", CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury too said, "every defence of police action on students in universities, offered by Amit Shah, is untrue, misleading and politically motivated."

"Delhi police comes directly under Modi-Shah & this is how it treats young students studying in a library. Shame. Why hasn't an FIR been registered against Delhi Police so long after this action against students in a library in the heart of Delhi? As Home Minister has justified police action, courts should take suo moto cognisance of the footage and initiate action against those responsible," he tweeted.

Senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the CCTV footage that had emerged showed police assaulting Jamia students without provocation. "Horrifying. Exemplary punishment must be levied on these lawless policemen," he said.

Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union President Aishe Ghosh said, "Don't be surprised and shocked after seeing the video. Jamia students have been telling about their trauma from months now. Be shocked and ashamed of your conscience which 'doubted' them."