The police has said that it will investigate the video clips showing some youths with covered faces entering the library, as part of the ongoing probe into the December 15, 2019 incident
Three video clips of alleged police brutality at the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) campus in New Delhi on December 15, 2019, have come into public domain. The video clips have drawn sharp reactions from the general public and the Opposition.
The police have said that it will investigate the video clips showing some youths with covered faces entering the library, as a part of the ongoing probe into the December 15, 2019 incident.
Here is what has happened so far:
First video
On February 16, the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) - a students and alumni group - posted a video on social media. The 48-second video, which appears to be CCTV footage, purportedly shows multiple paramilitary and police personnel entering the Old Reading Hall and beating up students with batons.
The paramilitary and police personnel are also seen covering their faces with handkerchiefs.Exclusive CCTV Footage of Police Brutality in Old Reading Hall, First floor-M.A/M.Phill Section on
15/12/2019
Shame on you @DelhiPolice @ndtvindia @ttindia @tehseenp @RanaAyyub @Mdzeeshanayyub @ReallySwara @ANI @CNN @ReutersIndia @AltNews @BBCHindi @the_hindu @TheQuint @BDUTT pic.twitter.com/q2Z9Xq7lxv
— Jamia Coordination Committee (@Jamia_JCC) February 15, 2020
JCC was formed after the alleged police brutality on the campus on December 15.
The JCC has said that it received the video from an "anonymous" source.
Second clip
In the second clip, people are purportedly seen entering the university's library in a rush.
Some have their face covered. As soon as they enter the library, those present inside the room can be seen pushing tables and chairs to block the main door. However, it does not have details of the timing and date of the incident.
Third video
In the third video, people are seen in the gangway with some covering their faces while at least two of them purportedly carrying stones. The footage was reportedly captured roughly at around 6.04 pm on December 15.
Special Commissioner of Police (Intelligence) Praveer Ranjan has said the videos have come to their knowledge and they will investigate them as part of their ongoing probe.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the authenticity of any of the videos.
What the university has said
JMI’s Public Relations Officer Ahmad Azeem said, "It has come to our notice that some video with regard to police brutality in Dr Zakir Husain Library of the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) is in circulation. This is to clarify that the video has not been released by the university".
Azeem said the JCC is spearheading the stir against the CAA, the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens on the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Road outside the university's gate number seven.
"This is to clarify that JCC is not an official body of the university. Any communication from JCC should not be taken as a version of the university," Azeem said.
What happened on December 15?
JMI campus witnessed violence on December 15, 2019. A student protest against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) turned violent with DTC buses being set on fire and private vehicles being damaged in South Delhi. The university has claimed that the arson was carried out by outsiders, not the students.
Later that evening, the university virtually turned into a battlefield as Delhi Police entered the campus and allegedly used force leading to students as well as some police personnel getting injured.
The police detained many students, who were all released in the early hours of the following day.
A law student of the university had alleged that he lost vision in one eye due to the police action.
Political war of words
Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the police's act had been "unconscionable" and "unacceptable".
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the government's intentions would stand exposed if no action was taken even after the video.
Vadra also accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Delhi Police of "lying" that Jamia students had not been beaten up inside the library.
"Look at how Delhi Police is blindly assaulting students in the library. A boy is flashing his book but the policeman is continuing to attack him with batons," she said in a tweet in Hindi.
"Home Minister and Delhi Police lied when they said students were not beaten up in the library," Gandhi said in another tweet.
"If no action is taken even after watching this Jamia video, the government's intentions would stand exposed before the whole country," she added.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya said the investigative agencies must use the video as evidence, adding it was "good" of "rioters" to identify themselves.
"Students in the library with 'masks' - Reading from shut books - Looking anxiously towards the entrance rather than being relaxed and immersed in studies, which is what a library is meant for... Anatomy of Jamia rioters who tried hiding in the library after a stone pelting session?" he posted on Twitter.
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