The Aligarh police on Sunday stopped former IPS officer Abdur Rahman from addressing students protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Mr. Rahman told reporters that he was detained for an hour at the Lodha police station and was told that his presence on the campus could lead to a law and order situation.
The former IPS officer said he told the police officers that he would not speak against any political personality and would limit himself to educating students on CAA-NRC-NPR.
‘Police scared’
But when they didn’t agree, he said, as a law-abiding citizen he decided not to go to the campus but found the Aligarh police unusually scared of the students.
A police source said they had no problem with Mr .Rahman speaking but they felt his presence could be used by anti-social elements among students to make some virulent statements that could affect the law and order. “We have seen in the past such elements using the stage to spread hatred,” said the source.
Mr. Rahman resigned in December after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha. He was an Inspector General in the Maharashtra police and was posted in the State Human Rights Commission at the time of his resignation. He described the CAA as unconstitutional and his resignation an act of civil disobedience.
In a related development, the fact-finding inquiry committee, formed by AMU Vice-Chancellor Tariq Mansoor, has started its proceedings.
Headed by Justice V.K. Gupta (retd), former Chief Justice, High Courts of Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, it will look into the sequence of events that took place from December 13, 2019, and which led to the disturbances in the intervening night of December 15-16, when police were called inside the campus by the AMU administration.
The Joint Registrar (Departmental Inquiry) has urged all the students, teachers and non-teaching staff, who are desirous to depose before the inquiry committee, to submit their written statement to him on or before February 7 so that the same may be placed before the committee.
V-C grants aid for injured
Meanwhile, 45 days after the incident, Prof. Mansoor has granted relief of ₹1,50000 to two students who were injured during the police action on the intervening night of December 15-16 from the V-C/Alumni Fund on the recommendation of an internal committee that looked into the evidence related to the incident.