Hundreds of students and activists gathered outside the Delhi Police Headquarters at ITO here to protest against the violence unleashed by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) outside Delhi University’s Ramjas College.
JNU student Umar Khalid, who addressed the gathering, said that very few people would have heard him had he spoken at the college. But at the protest site, he said, in the presence of the media, the entire country would hear him. He said that though no chargesheet was filed against him, the ABVP insisted on calling him ‘anti-national’.
‘Will intensify struggle’
Kawalpreet Kaur, president of the All India Students’ Association (AISA), said, “We met the Joint Commissioner who denied us our right to get an FIR filed. We were told to be satisfied with the police version. We will not agree with the police narrative/FIR. We will intensify our struggle and go to every college to campaign about what transpired on the campus as being illegal, brutal and a mockery of justice.”
The vociferous protesters managed to extract the assurance of a fair investigation from the police.
Special Commissioner (south-west) Dependra Pathak told the students that several complaints had been received from both parties and that an FIR had been registered on Wednesday.
“We will record your statements and assure you that we will take legal action. If there are 10 complaints about the same incident, we don’t register 10 FIRs, but record all statements instead,” Mr. Pathak told the students.
Top cop takes to Twitter
The police also said that an inquiry had been initiated against the policemen who allegedly acted inappropriately.
Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik, meanwhile, took to Twitter to assure students. He added that the Delhi Police would put in place arrangements to ensure that the university functioned normally.
The Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), the student wing of the Aam Aadmi Party, condemned the “violence perpetrated by ABVP activists” with a candlelight march at Jantar Mantar. CYSS spokesperson Anmol Panwar said, “How could so many ABVP activists enter the college despite the presence of policemen? People might have different opinions, but nobody has the right to abuse anyone. The ABVP has scant regard for democracy.”
