Facing pressure from students and teachers, Aligarh Muslim University Vice-Chancellor Tariq Mansoor has decided to lodge an FIR against police action on the campus on December 15 night when the protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act allegedly turned violent.
In a statement on Tuesday, Prof. Mansoor said the university administration gave permission to the police “only to bring the situation to normalcy and restore public order and clear the main road and they were not supposed to enter any residential hostel”.
He further said that the evidence brought to the knowledge of the university administration suggests that the police personnel might have crossed the mandate by entering the Morrison Court hostel premises.
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‘Police not informed’
SP (City), Aligarh, Abhishek said the police had no information in this regard.
The decision has come at a time when a team of the National Human Rights Commission has reached Aligarh on the order of the Allahabad High Court to collect evidence on the clash between the police and students on December 15. The students are boycotting classes and the teachers have come out in support of them.
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‘Leaf out of Jamia’
A senior teacher requesting anonymity said it seems that the V-C took a leaf out of the Jamia Millia Islamia V-C’s book. “He is trying to save his skin,” he said.
AMU Students’ Union president Salman Imtiaz said the move was probably aimed at “weakening the efforts of the student community” and build a narrative that gains their sympathy. “Action against the security forces is the demand of the time but our V-C has turned a blind eye to the atrocities done on the students for a month now and is solely responsible for the tragic incident that took place on the night of December 15,” he said.
Mr. Imtiaz added that if the V-C was sincere in his intention he would join the ongoing protest of the students and speak out in public rallies against the NRC and the CAA where the real battle was being fought.