Campus violence in India

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Student violence has become a serious issue for universities and colleges of India. The type of student violence can vary from political rivalries to shootings to sexual harassment.

Contents

Incidents

Delhi, 1990

In 1990, a student from Delhi called Rajiv Goswami self-immolated himself to protest against the reservations for the backward classes. This incident led to countrywide agitations against the then Prime Minister V.P.Singh. [1]

Jamia Millia Islamia, 2000

On 9 April 2000, two policemen came near Jamia Millia Islamia university campus to arrest two former students of the university for allegedly injuring another student earlier. Students in and around the spot interceded and did not let the police arrest the men. [2] Later, the policemen emerged with reinforcements and entered the university library. The police randomly caught two students, leading to a fracas between the two parties. Incensed over police entry into the library without permission, the students started a road blockade outside the university. Police reinforcements increased and attempts were made to remove the protesting students which led to brick-batting by protesting students. The police resorted to lathi charge and firing tear gas shells. The students returned to their hostels after the intervention of the provost but around 300-500 policemen from several police stations across South Delhi emerged outside the hostel gate. The police then destroyed hostel property, beat students (especially Kashmiri students) and hurled communal remarks. The police desecrated a mosque inside the hostel premises and assaulted the Imam. [3] A fact-finding report by People's Union for Democratic Rights called it "perhaps one of the worst ever incidents of police terror against students since the Emergency." [4] [5]

Kerala, 2007

On 27 October 2007, Hindu right-wing students killed a police officer during a student clash inside the NSS Hindu College in Changanassery, Kerala. The officer was hit by a wooden plank by the students. [6]

Kerala, 2018

In July 2018, an Islamist student leader stabbed and killed a communist student leader in Maharajas College, Kochi, Kerala. The incident took place when the two groups of students had a quarrel about displaying posters inside the campus. [7] In March 2018, communist student activists attacked the residence of the principal of the MES Asmabi College, Kerala and wounded the principal seriously. The attackers were not arrested because they immediately escaped to some foreign country.[ clarification needed ] [8] [9]

Mahatma Gandhi Central University, 2018

On 13 September 2018, Shakti Babu, is an undergraduate student of BA (Hindi Honours) at Mahatma Gandhi Central University was thrashed by some unidentified people as he was part of the students' core committee who were protesting against the Mahatma Gandhi Central University Vice-Chancellor (Arvind Agarwal) for his removal from university. He received internal injuries during the attack and was referred to Patna Medical College and Hospital for further treatment. [10] He was getting threat calls for two days for raising voice against the Vice-Chancellor. A F.I.R was lodged against the Vice-Chancellor including the chief proctor and administrative secretary of university for the attack on him. [11]

Kerala, 2019

On 12 July 2019, communist students stabbed a student inside the University college campus in Thiruvananthapuram. The attack was carried out for the reason of "singing songs inside the campus along with lady students." [12]

In Kerala Varma College, Thrissur, the principal had to leave his job when the Hindu right wing students created an issue about the communist students defiling Hindu gods in a campus poster. [13]

As the political rivalries between the communist parties and the Hindu right wing students have disrupted the smooth running of the educational organizations all over the country. The issue is a bit more serious in southern states like Kerala where some students even resort to attacking the teachers and principals of the colleges. [13] [8]

Jamia Millia Islamia, 2019 Attack

On 15 December, the Delhi Police entered the Jamia Milia Islamia University campus and allegedly assaulted several students after a mob of unidentified people set a few public buses on fire nearby. While police claimed they entered the campus to identify the agitators, several ground reports and eyewitnesses indicate that there was a brutal crackdown by Delhi Police on the Jamia campus. [14] The testimonies from those present in Jamia Millia Islamia University on Sunday, suggest that the police targeted individuals indiscriminately, even entering the mosque on campus and hurting a local cleric. [15]

Aligarh Muslim University, 2019

On the same day as the Jamia Millia Islamia attack, police and Rapid Action Force injured several students — including some serious injuries — by firing tear-gas shells, rubber bullets, stun grenades and pellets at students of the Aligarh Muslim University protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The security forces reportedly hurled communal abuses at the students. The forces fired tear gas shell inside hostel rooms and set ablaze vehicles belonging to students. [16] [17] [18]

JNU, 2020

On 5 January in the evening a masked mob with iron rods attacked the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and injured students and teachers. [19]

Gargi College molestations, 2020

Beneficial Agitations

According to Ratnadeep Chakraborty banning student unions alone cannot solve the issue of campus violence. Karnataka had tried banning students unions during 1989-1990 and that didn't help. [20] [21]

Student agitations can help the good movements of society as well. In August 2011, large number of students from different campuses of Delhi bunked classes and joined the anti corruption agitation of Anna Hazare. [22]

In December 2012, student protests became widespread all over the country when a 21-year-old student was gang raped in a Delhi bus. [23] Student politics is closely intertwined with Indian politics. In the 1920s a large number of students participated in the freedom fight against the British rulers. During Indira Gandhi's rule, student leaders were suppressed and 60 students from JNU were imprisoned for one year. [24] Many Indian universities banned student organizations in this period.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

Jamia Millia Islamia Central university in New Delhi, India

Jamia Millia Islamia is a central and research university located in New Delhi, India. Originally established at Aligarh, United Provinces during the British Empire in 1920, it moved to its current location in Okhla in 1935. It was given the deemed status by the University Grants Commission in 1962. Jamia Millia Islamia became a central university by an act of the Indian Parliament which was passed on 26 December 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari</span> Indian Freedom fighter and political leader (1880–1936)

Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari was an Indian nationalist and political leader, and former president of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League during the Indian Independence Movement. He was one of the founders of Jamia Millia Islamia University. He remained it's chancellor from 1928 to 1936.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad</span> RSS-affiliated Students Organisation

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) (transl. All India Students' Council) is a right-wing and a independent all India student organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

All India Students' Association (AISA) is a left wing student organisation in India. It describes itself as "the voice of the radical students' movement" and is affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation. The association was previously affiliated to the IPF. The association was founded in Allahabad on 9 August 1990 with the merger of several left wing students organisations across India. AISA have organisational presence in the states and union territories of Delhi, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, etc. Nilasis Bose is the National President of AISA and Prasenjeet Kumar is its National General Secretary.

Abdul Bari Firangi Mahali (1878–1926) was an Indian Muslim scholar and writer from the Firangi Mahal palace in Lucknow. He authored 111 books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Students' Union of India</span> Indian students organization

The National Students' Union of India (NSUI) is the student wing of the Indian National Congress. It was established on the 9th of April, 1971, founded by Indira Gandhi after merging the Kerala Students Union and the West Bengal State Chhatra Parishad to form a national students' organisation. Varun Choudhary is current National President of NSUI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Majeed Khwaja</span> Indian lawyer and activist (1885–1962)

Abdul Majeed Khwaja was an Indian lawyer, educationist, social reformer and freedom fighter from Aligarh. In 1920, he along with others founded Jamia Millia Islamia and later served its vice chancellor and chancellor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campus Front of India</span>

The Campus Front of India (CFI) is the student/campus wing of the banned Islamist organization, the Popular Front of India. CFI was launched at New Delhi on November seventh at the National Students Convention 2009. The founder and president was Muhammad Yusuff from Tamil Nadu. The Popular Front of India, Campus Front of India and seven other associated outfits were banned by the Government of India for unlawful activities in September, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disappearance of Najeeb Ahmed</span> Indian student

Najeeb Ahmed was a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India, who went missing from his hostel on the university campus under suspicious circumstances on 15 October 2016.

Pinjra Tod is a collective of women students and alumni of colleges from across Delhi, India, that seeks to make regulations for hostel and paying guest (PG) accommodation less restrictive for women students. They aim to counter a perceived official narrative that women need to be protected. Challenging what they consider to be the CCTV-driven police-security complex, Pinjra Tod demands that concepts of safety and security not be used to silence women's right to mobility and liberation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citizenship Amendment Act protests</span> 2019–2020 protests in India

The Citizenship Amendment Act (Bill) protests, also known as the CAA Protest, CAB Protest or CAA and NRC protests, occurred after the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was enacted by the Government of India on 12 December 2019. The move sparked a widespread national and overseas ongoing protests against the act and its associated proposals of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The protests first began in Assam and spread swiftly in other states such as Delhi, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, and Tripura on 4 December 2019. Protests broke out rapidly across the country, although the concerns of the protesters vary.

On 5 January 2020, more than 50 masked people armed with rods, sticks and acid attacked the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and injured more than 39 students and teachers. Many students received serious injuries. Professors who tried to intervene and protect the students, as well as ambulances carrying injured individuals, were attacked. Eyewitnesses stated that police within the campus did not intervene to stop the mob. After attacking residents of the university campus for three hours, the mob escaped; none of its members was arrested or detained. All 36 students who were injured and admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (AIIMS) were discharged within 24 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Jamia Millia Islamia attack</span> Attack on a University campus in India

The Jamia Millia Islamia attack refers to the forceful entry by Delhi police into the Jamia Millia Islamia university during a confrontation with student protesters that started outside the campus on 15 December 2019. Hundreds of police officers forcefully entered the campus and detained more than a hundred students during the confrontation with the protesters. The police used batons and tear gas to disperse protesters. The police also entered the university library and washrooms and in the process of the violence ransacked parts of it. The visuals of students being dragged and assaulted by the police were telecast by news channels. About two hundred people were injured and were admitted to AIIMS and the Holy Family Hospital.

CAA protests in Uttar Pradesh was a protest that began in response to the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in both houses of Parliament on 11 December 2019. and the police intervention against students at Jamia Millia Islamia who were opposing law which gives priority to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians resident in India before 2014, but excludes Muslims, including minority sects. The student activists were also demanding complete roll back of CAA.

Safoora Zargar is an Indian student activist leader from Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, best known for her role in the Citizenship Amendment Act protests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraternity Movement</span> Student-youth party in India

The Fraternity Movement is a student-youth party in India working for strengthening democracy, social justice and fraternity. It is a growing student organization in many regions of India especially in West Bengal, Kerala and Delhi. The Fraternity Movement is directly linked to Welfare Party of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aishe Ghosh</span> Indian student activist (born 1995)

Aishe Ghosh is an Indian politician and student activist. She is a former President of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union and is a Member of the Students' Federation of India. She was also the CPI(M) candidate from Jamuria constituency for 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election and lost to Hareram Singh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asif Iqbal Tanha</span> Indian student activist

Asif Iqbal Tanha is an Indian student activist, a former student of Jamia Millia Islamia and a member of Students Islamic Organisation of India. He was allegedly involved in the Delhi Riots conspiracy case and is an accused under the UAPA Act. Tanha is also associated with United Against Hate (UAH), a campaign that was started in July 2017 in response to the series of lynchings and hate crimes in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protest art at Jamia Millia Islamia</span>

Students and artists created art and graphite paintings on the walls and roads of the Jamia Millia Islamia campus in New Delhi, India, following the 2019 Jamia Millia Islamia attack by Delhi Police in December 2019. The protest art spread into the neighborhood of Shaheen Bagh and their protests, and continued to be created until January and February 2020.

References

  1. ↑ "The man who sparked anti-Mandal agitation - Hindustan Times". 30 August 2011. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011.
  2. ↑ "Jamia tense after violent clash". The Times of India. 11 April 2000. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  3. ↑ "STATE, POLICE AND JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA". 28 April 2000. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  4. ↑ Alam, Mahtab (9 April 2021). "Over Two Decades Ago, The Forgotten Attack On Jamia Students". The Wire. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  5. ↑ "Bloody Sunday: Brutal Attack on Jamia Students" (PDF). Peoples Union for Democratic Rights. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "Student politics: cop killed in Kerala campus violence". News18. 27 October 2007.
  7. ↑ "A dangerous pattern of campus violence in Kerala". Sify . Archived from the original on 10 July 2018.
  8. 1 2 "കോളജ് പ്രിൻസിപ്പലിനെ ആക്രമിച്ച കേസിലെ രണ്ട് പ്രതികൾ വിദേശത്തേക്ക് കടന്നു". Manoramanews.
  9. ↑ "2018-09-13 Mahatma Gandhi Central University". Scholars at Risk . 13 September 2018.
  10. ↑ "Bihar varsity student assaulted for 'criticising' vice-chancellor". The Indian Express . 14 September 2018.
  11. ↑ "2018-09-13 Mahatma Gandhi Central University". Scholars at Risk . 13 September 2018.
  12. ↑ "Violence erupts in University college campus in Thiruvananthapuram; student stabbed". India Today. 12 July 2019.
  13. 1 2 "Row erupts over controversial Lord Ayyappa poster in Kerala college". India Today. 25 June 2019.
  14. ↑ "Jamia University slams Delhi Police over December 15 violence, demands high-level probe". India Today.
  15. ↑ "Jamia ground report: Police entered mosque, beat up imam and me, claims former armyman". India Today.
  16. ↑ "AMU protests: Report puts question mark on number of detained students". The Hindu. 19 December 2019. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  17. ↑ Ahmad, Salik (18 December 2019). "AMU: Student's Hand Amputated, 'Police Violence Worse Than In Jamia'". Outlook India. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  18. ↑ "AMU violence: Court orders UP police chief, CRPF head to act against officers who attacked students". Scroll.in. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  19. ↑ "Masked Mob Attacks JNU; Around 40 Including Students, Teachers Injured". NDTV.com. 5 January 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  20. ↑ "The Sunday Read: Return the power to us". Bangalore Mirror. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  21. ↑ "Karnataka government urged to restart student elections". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  22. ↑ "Students bunk classes, throng Freedom Park". Deccan Herald. 17 August 2011.
  23. ↑ Baruah, Joyshree (7 April 2018). "A look at some of the powerful protests that shook India". The Economic Times.
  24. ↑ "JNU: A crucible of democratic dissent". India Today. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
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