New Delhi police have released all those unfairly detained in a raid on Jamia Millia Islamia campus, where the officers had rounded up a violent mob who torched vehicles and pelted stones at a march over the new citizenship law.
An agitated crowd of protesters gathered outside a police station in the capital New Delhi on Sunday night, demanding that authorities immediately released students of the Muslim University, who had been detained earlier in the day. By roughly 3:30am local time, the crowd gradually dispersed as police said they released everyone who hasn’t been charged.
Nearing 2:30 am at ITO Delhi Police headquarters. #JamiaMilliaIslamia #CABProtests #JamiaProtestsCAB pic.twitter.com/e0mEGLU9Ig
— Betwa Sharma (@betwasharma) December 15, 2019
The university accuses riot police of raiding their campus illegally, using tear gas and brutally abusing students and staff. More than two dozen people, including several policemen were injured in clashes.
Students insist their protest was non-violent and claim that the police entered the college and indiscriminately fired tear gas. Videos shared on social media show chaos in the university’s buildings, as the sound of smashing glass and what seem to be riot control weapon shots can be heard.
#TearGas fills #NewDelhi university library. Police say they needed to 'push the mob back' and had 'no problem' with the #JamiaMillia Islamia uni
MORE: https://t.co/f2ytz3hJqJ pic.twitter.com/nBYaljnVFC
— RT (@RT_com) December 15, 2019
While technically they should’ve sought university permission first, authorities argue that the officers were actively chasing a violent mob who took refuge on the open-ground campus. “We only acted to control situation after violence,” senior police officer Chinmaya Biswal told ANI.
We have no problem with university students… Our only interest is to push the mob back, so law and order can be restored in the area
The university and students themselves meanwhile blamed all the violence and disorder on unidentified locals who joined the “genuinely peaceful” protest in an attempt to “discredit” it. Earlier in the day, a march that started on the university grounds almost immediately turned violent, with mob pelting stones at police and torching at least three busses and dozens of bikes.
We had to push them back… they started pelting stones and bottles filled with oil…
Authorities admit they can’t definitively say if it was a mob of students or locals who started the violence. “They were being very, very aggressive and violent and they have been pushed to the Jamia Nagar area from where they originated,” explained Biswal, whose force is now being accused of using excessive force as activists online are rallying in solidarity with the ‘peaceful protesters.’
Read more: Two dead in India as police fire at demo against citizenship bill
The unrest in India was triggered a bill that fast-tracks citizenship for illegal migrants belonging to religious minorities that fled Muslim-majority Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan for India before 2015. The law does not affect the Muslims of India in any way, but critics either unwittingly or on purpose, interpreted it as discriminatory, leading to a wave of outrage and unrest.
RT with additional input by GVS News Desk.