Jamia student Who Lost Permanent Vision In His Left Eye In Police Attack On Varsity, Waits For Justice

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Mohammad Minhajuddidn

Masihuzzama Ansari | India Tomorrow

NEW DELHI—Jamia Millia Islamia student Mohammad Minhajuddin, who lost vision in his left eye in police violence in the Jamia library is still awaiting justice for the past one year ever since the gruesome attack on the university took place on December 15, 2019. 

Minhajuddin, an LLM student, was among scores of the students who sustained injuries in police assault on the Jamia campus while chasing students and local residents who were taking out a march to Parliament against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Narrating his ordeal a year after the painful incident, Minhajuddin said he had never thought that he would be assaulted in the library while studying. “The administration of Jamia Millia Islamia has not acted responsibly in this incident as the entire security of the students was in hands of the university. I was studying for my LLM in the library when the students were suddenly attacked,” he said. 

Minhajuddin is a resident of Samastipur where he works as a lecturer.  He has obtained a degree in law from Jamia Millia Islamia and at the time of the incident, was pursuing his Masters in Law in the same university.

“One year after the incident, no action has been taken against the culprits who did this barbarous act. All the victims had complained about the inhuman assault on innocent students and sought registration of a criminal case against the policemen involved in the assault but it was rejected by the magistrate. As of today, the victims don’t have any order in their favour,” he said.

Stating that “strange are the rules of justice”, he said that “the accused themselves are investigating the case”.

“It is the police who attacked the students and the accused police are themselves the investigators in the same case. It makes me understand as to why the investigation has not brought any justice till date”, he pointed out.

Terming the police behavior as “anti-human”, Minhajuddin said that even courts did not take suo moto cognizance of such a serious crime against humanity. “The behaviour is completely unacceptable and violates the norms of civility. It is shameful that the cops attacked the students. Female students were abused and molested. At the same time, the police lobbed teargas shells against the students who were busy studying. During this sudden criminal operation against the students, none of them was wearing any identity card but had helmets so that they are not identified for their illegal assault,” he alleged.

“The attack took me by surprise. I fell down due to the rain of blows and lathi-charge and got injured in the left eye. I was busy studying in the special post-graduate section of the library where ordinary students are not allowed. The police gained entry into that section and assaulted him and other students,” he said with tears rolling down his eyes.

“All our pleas for legal action and FIR against the police fell on deaf ears. I complained to the AIIMS police chowki and SHO but to no avail. Lastly, we have filed a court case seeking justice in this barbaric assault case,” he said.

He further added, “We have filed a complaint case before the Delhi court, seeking lodging of an FIR against the guilty cops and have made Union of India, Delhi Police and Home Affairs parties in the case. But the case is still pending”, he informed, adding a collective FIR lodged against the police on behalf of the university has also not born any fruit so far.

“In the Jamia FIR case, I was given a notice by the Delhi police crime branch and called for a statement with the medical reports of my case at Crime Branch, Chanakyapuri. I submitted all the documents but till today no action has been taken,” he said.

No Compensation Till Date

The Jamia administration has not given any compensation to the victims including Minhajuddin despite completion of one year of the tragedy which uprooted their lives and maimed some for lifetime. “I lost my vision permanently and still I have not been given any compensation Jamia authorities,” he said.

His mother-Hashmat Nasreen-had also written a letter to Jamia Vice-Chancellor Prof Najma Akhtar on January 28, 2020 seeking compensation for his son but nothing has happened till date.

Job Appeal Left In The Lurch

The family had appealed for a job for their son to the Vice- Chancellor but no response has been given. Hashmat Nasreen, in her letter, said that it was the responsibility of the university for security of her son and other students but they did not do anything for protecting him. He lost his vision permanently due to the negligence of Jamia authorities. Her letter puts a serious question mark over the dwindling responsibility being undertaken by the university for protection of the students.

(The story was originally written in Hindi by Masihuzzaman Ansari and translated in English by Nadeem Inamdar)

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