Rutba Aalee (20), a Political Science student who resides in the Jammu and Kashmir Girls’ Hostel in Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), waited outside the campus for her cab to Noida. She feels unsafe at the university. “The proctor had come and assured us that we are the responsibility of the authorities... the students that were trapped and attacked inside the library were also the responsibility of the authority and they could not protect them,” she said.
Rutba did not step out of the hostel on Sunday and watched the events unfold from inside the campus.
The women in her hostel had locked themselves in the washroom and cried out of fear. Rutba kept receiving updates on her class WhatsApp group. In the afternoon, she learnt that a bus had been torched. Soon after, they got to know that the police had entered the university and students were being thrashed.
“We could see the smoke from the tear gas shells. We could hear students and police shouting and screaming. Subsequently, a huge group of boys came to our hostel to take refuge. Many of them were injured. We called in all the girls studying medicine to give them first aid,” she said, adding that the students thought that since they were at a girls’ hostel, the police would not come close.
There were a few who were severely injured and the ambulance came to take them, she said, adding: “We were all frightened and all we could do was to calm each other down.”
Rutba’s parents back home in Kashmir saw the news on TV and called her to enquire whether she was okay. “For me, none of this is new... I have seen all this before, so I was okay, said Rutba who was among many students who left the campus on Monday fearing for their safety.
