CAA: Jamia students release CCTV footage of police brutality

NEW DELHI: A purported video has been leaked online showing Delhi Police personnel brutality in the university library on the night of December 15.  

The new full-length CCTV footage released by Jamia Coordination Committee captures how the Delhi police indiscriminately hitting the unarmed students with lathis at the library in the Old Reading Hall on the first floor of the MA/MPhil section.

https://twitter.com/Jamia_JCC/status/1228772837583753216?s=20

The came hours after violence had broken out near Delhi’s Jamia Nagar close to the institution during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protest march by the university’s students.

Siasat.com could not independently verify the video tweeted by the Jamia Coordination Committee.

The video has been shared by many, including the Jamia Coordination Committee of the protesting students and the teachers.

Not just social media but political reactions have also started pouring in since early Sunday.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi expressed her outrage over the video. Taking to Twitter, she wrote, “See how the Delhi Police is indiscriminately beating up pupils who are studying. A boy is showing his book but the policeman is hitting him with lathis. The Home Minister and Delhi Police officials lied that they had not beaten anyone by entering the library.”

“After watching this video, if action is not taken on the violence in Jamia, the intention of the government will be completely exposed to the country,” she added.

Jamia administration has refused to comment on the video as the matter is in the court, while Delhi Police Joint Commissioner of Police Pravir Ranjan has also refused to comment on its authenticity and the matter is being probed.

A protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) turned violent on December 15 just days after the Citizenship Bill was passed.

The Delhi police had later forcefully entered the university campus, fired tear gas shells and allegedly baton-charged several students of Jamia Millia Islamia.

The case has been with the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police.

Students across the world, including those from Harvard and Oxford, show solidarity with the students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) regarding the protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

The University had approached the police for filing an FIR against the erring police personnel responsible for the brutality. The Jamia Millia Islamia administration had also filed a case in the court of the Metropolitan Magistrate, who has directed the Delhi Police to file action taken report by March 16.