Dear Ma’am,
Hope this letter finds you well.
I am a student of Jamia Millia Islamia and a victim of police brutality which happened on December 15 in our university. I read your letter (dated December 20) which came out 5 days after the attack, in which you have shown your “motherly” concern for us and asked us to stay together. Since the beginning of our protest, we had expected support from you to fight against this unconstitutional bill, but alas! It never came.
We have been protesting against CAA and All India NRC since December 10, and this was not the first attack on us. The protest against this act was, and is because of its unconstitutional, anti-Muslim, anti-indigenous and anti-poor nature. On December 13, when we were marching peacefully towards the Parliament, the Delhi Police stopped us near the Sports Complex and detained a few of our friends and brutally lathi-charged others.
On that day too, they fired tear gas inside our campus and beat the students inside Gate Number 4 of our campus. But you didn’t utter a word against their brutality or speak for your children-like students. If that day you had stood with us, maybe the incident of December 15 could’ve been averted.
On the night of the attack, we all saw your statement blaming the Delhi Police for entering the campus without taking permission from the administration, for attacking the students and damaging property. But the very next day, you diverted from your stance when you gave interview to Mr Rajdeep Sardesai, in which you held nobody responsible for the attack on our university.
It cannot be ignored that the attack on us was because of our identity and the police came after us not to disperse us, but to kill. The attack has affected our physical and mental condition, and it will leave a scar on our lives forever. But you holding no one responsible for this, has burdened our spirits all the more.
We don’t know what made you to flip your statement in one night. We acknowledge the fact, as mentioned in your letter, that you have filed cases against Delhi Police, but that cannot free us of the apprehensions that it will procure suitable results. We can only hope for it.
We, the students of Jamia Millia Islamia, want to remind you that this institution is a product of the non-cooperation movement, and it has always stood with the oppressed sections of the society. The founders of our great institution, as we all know, were against the smallest of injustices and the onus comes on us to carry that legacy.
We have every right to peacefully protest against any breach of constitution happening in our country. This fight against CAA will go on, no matter how much we are targeted. And we, as students, know perfectly well who must be held answerable for the attack on our university and they shall be held responsible in the court of law even if that person belongs to our administration. Until then, I urge you to stand with us against the atrocities we have been subjected to.
Yours sincerely,
Shoaib Khan
Student of JMI