On Sunday, 15 December, when I had left my hostel to go be a part of the anti-CAA protests, I had witnessed black smoke emanating from near the protest area. I had no clue where it came from. There was a scary thought in my mind, a guess that the Jamia campus had been bombarded. I had sensed the possibility that turned into a reality a few hours from then.
When violence broke out later that day, I was right there in the campus canteen in front of gate number 7, which has been now vandalised owing to violent clashes. The police had started entering the campus at around 5 pm after a lathi-charge on protesting students as well as a few outsiders from adjoining areas of Jamia who had come in solidarity to the cause.
Till this point of time, nobody in their wildest of imaginations had ever thought that a police force would dare step into a college campus. One can sense when their home is under attack and their loved ones unsafe. This is exactly what it was.
The narrative of some Twitter trolls is that Hindu students were forced to be a part of their protest in Jamia. Then, as a Hindu female, I should have been under attack last night on a campus filled with thousands of Muslims. However, when the chaos broke out and the girls started running back to the campus, it was the boys who started to put us all back into hostels. As soon as I reached my hostel I witnessed the distress that my hostel mates had been put under.
The boys were injured in great numbers, my juniors and seniors sought refuge in our hostel because the police were allegedly chasing out everyone when they crashed through the gates of Jamia. Even the strays of our campus, who used to laze for days under the sun were left terrorised.
In the girls’ hostel, there was fear of fellow classmates being left outside. I could not help but break down in front of the guards and the wardens who were equally scared and helpless in front of troops of policemen charging towards the women, including “Hindu” students.
The lockdown has given us all scars of a lifetime.
There was fear of being lynched, raped, or dying of suffocation by the tear gas. But worst was the fear of being killed in the name of religious identity in a university that has always thrived on plurality.
Forces are trying hard to paint my university saffron or green but they don’t know that in Jamia Millia Islamia, we are colour-blind!
It has always seemed to my family, friends or the flatmates I used to have before I took up the hostel that it must be outright outrageous for a liberal, Hindu and a woman to be in a Muslim majority university like Jamia.
However, in Jamia, it has never been a surprise for people to see a Hindu protesting a fascist government. This is not by virtue of being amongst so many Muslims but by choice, because students know it is important to raise their voice against any kind of injustice. Identity is not a concern.
Whether a Hindu or Muslim, all students will speak up when a beautiful, plural, sane campus is under attack.
Do not tell stories about my university in my Hindu name. Rethink your definition of Musalman and Hindu again.
(The author is a student of English at the Jamia Millia Islamia. All 'My Report' branded stories are submitted by citizen journalists to The Quint. Though The Quint inquires into the claims/allegations from all parties before publishing, the report and the views expressed above are the citizen journalist's own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for the same.)
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