A group of protesters on Tuesday, 8 May, marched to the gates of Jamia Millia Islamia, shouting slogans that alleged discrimination against Hindu students by the university.
The group, which comprised of 20 to 25 people, allegedly also raised ‘provocative’ slogans against Muhammed Ali Jinnah. It reportedly reached the university’s gate number 7 at around 5:30 pm, when semester exams and entrance tests were still underway.
Speaking to The Quint, Saima Saeed, the media coordinator for Jamia, denied that the protest was held by students from the university.
However, according to a report by The Indian Express, the protests were led by Rahul Tiwari, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member, who reportedly also claimed to be a postgraduate student from the university.
According to the report, Tiwari had put up a Facebook post, which read:
When questioned over the post, Tiwari told the daily that that the tone was intended to be ‘sarcastic’.
When questioned over Tiwari’s alleged connection with the university, Saeed said:
Meanwhile, speaking to The Times of India, a student named Mohammed Tasleem said the protesters had raised slogans like “Jinnah premi desh chodo” (jinnah lovers leave the country) and “Hinduon ka apmaan nahi sahega Hindustan” (Hindustan won’t tolerate Hindus being disrespected). He further alleged that a scuffle took place between the students and the protesters.
Some students also told the daily that the protesters belonged to Jamia Millia Ismalia. Tasleem called for the protesting Jamia students to be banned from the university, as they had “intended to malign the secular name of Jamia’’.
The Indian Express reported that by nightfall, the campus had turned into a “scene of protests”, with students shooting retaliatory slogans demanding action against the protesters.
According to The Times of India, the university released a statement requesting for peace to be maintained on campus so as to aid the exams. The statement further said that the administration could not take action per se, as the protests had happened outside the campus.
The administration has, however, reached out to the police for assistance regarding security arrangment. Saeed said:
However, no FIR has been filed yet regarding the protests, she said.
(With inputs from The Times of India and The Indian Express)
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