New Delhi: The police assault on students was a deliberate act instigated by the government, students of the Jamia Millia University stated on Monday.
"We'll not succumb to police pressure. The police assaulted female students without any female cops. We demand action against police," said Shaheen, who was injured in the police action on Sunday. Shaheen, hailing from Kerala is an MA journalism student at Jamia Millia.
The brutal assault by police in Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University campus against students who protested against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act had been condemned by students across the country and the opposition parties.
"We were assaulted without any provocation," said Shaheen.
"This witch-hunt shows that Narendra Modi's beginning to fear the public. The government knows that the situation is out of control," he added.
"I doubt if those who assaulted us were real policemen. The people who stopped us from taking the injured student the hospital were merely dressed up in police uniform."
Nearly 60 people, including students, policemen and fire fighters injured after protesters clashed with police in New Friends' Colony near Jamia Millia Islamia during a demonstration against the amended Citizenship Act on Sunday.
“Police opened fire without any provocation,” said Ayesha a student who stopped the police from injuring Shaheen further.
She also added that though they were peacefully protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the police targeted them and brutally thrashed them without any consideration that they were women.
"If the media personnel had not arrived in time, they would have killed us," Ayesha said.
Meanwhile, the student protests in Jamia and elsewhere are gaining strength. The assaulted students on Monday protested against the authorities by removing their shirts.
This was in retaliation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that 'those indulging in arson can be identified by their clothes.'
