Three Years to the Siege at Jamia University: Recalling the Night Through Photos

The street that runs through the heart of the campus was littered with pelted stones and vandalised vehicles.

On the third day of peaceful protests by the students of Jamia Millia Islamia against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in 2019, the Delhi Police forced their way into the university campus and attacked students with brute force, lathis, and tear gas.

(Photo: Debayan Dutta/The Quint)

The Quint reported from ground zero on that fateful day bringing you all the details of what transpired through the night of the violence. This photo story was first published on 15 December 2021 – and it has been republished from the archives to mark three years of the attack on Jamia Millia Islamia University campus by the Delhi Police.

On the third day of peaceful protests by the students of Jamia Millia Islamia against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in 2019, the Delhi Police forced their way into the university campus and attacked students with brute force, lathis, and tear gas.

The street that runs through the heart of the campus was littered with pelted stones, broken pieces of bricks, and lines of vandalised vehicles – a hint of everything that took place that evening.

Dozens of students were detained from the campus, and at least 60, including students and police officers, were injured in the ruckus.

A worried mother searching for her child. As the university gates opened around 9 pm, parents of students rushed in to search for their children. As the police slowly receded, screams of parents searching for their children echoed in the air. 

“We can see bloodstains all around the campus but can’t find our children. Where did they all go?” a mother peeped inside the broken doors of the library room.

People offering prayers at the vandalised mosque. Bloodstains, broken glasses, and torn slippers greeted us in the mosque inside the Jamia campus, which was allegedly vandalised by the police. WhatsApp videos of students who were trapped in the library were being circulated during the course of the violence. The students were hiding in the library to escape the lathi charge and tear gas from the police. Students further alleged that the police officers entered the campus mosque and started beating the people who were peacefully offering prayers there.

The vandalised and torched buses parked outside the Kalkaji police station. Buses were also torched during the process. While many shared a video claiming a cop poured “fuel” on a bus to set it ablaze, the police denied the charge saying they were pouring “water and not petrol.”

Meanwhile, calls of “Azadi” and “We want justice” reverberated in another part of the national capital. Hundreds of students thronged the Delhi Police headquarters at ITO late on Sunday night to take part in an "emergency" protest against the police action at Jamia Millia Islamia.