Detained Jamia students released, Altnews exposes BJP’s fake video

Following orders of the Delhi Minorities Commission, all detained students from Jamia were finally released by the police early on Monday. The Commission had threatened to take legal action against the SHOs and asked for a compliance report by 3 pm on December 16.

The Commission’s order followed 12 hours of an ugly standoff which saw Delhi policemen barge into the Jamia campus, enter the library, canteen and even washrooms, break glass doors and windows, drag out students and assault them. They are also accused of abusing and assaulting a woman reporting for the BBC.

Even more seriously, police are accused of firing tear gas shells inside the library and a mosque inside the campus.

The provocation, police claimed, was a violent protest outside Jamia against the Citizenship Amendment Act, in which three buses were apparently torched. Media reports quoted police sources admit that the trouble was instigated by outsiders.

The night-long attrition saw hundreds of students, parents and members of the civil society reach the former police headquarters at ITO around midnight and demand the release of the detained students. Armed with photographs of Mahatma Gandhi and Ambedkar, they shouted slogans in support of Jamia students.

As news of the standoff spread, students at Hyderabad, Aligarh, Mumbai and Guwahati were reported to have taken our protest marches in solidarity.

However, several BJP workers including its IT Cell chief tried to fish in troubled water by tweeting a video and claiming that students had raised anti-Hindu slogans. Fact checking website Altnews was quick to expose the fake video. Pratik Sinha tweeted: “Many senior BJP functionaries including Amit Malviya and Tajinder Bagga posted a video claiming that slogans against Hindus were raised in AMU. Alt News found the claim to be false, read the #AltNewsFactCheck for more.

Early on Monday morning, Yogendra Yadav of Swaraj India tweeted, “ Back from Jamia. FACTS: 125+ injured 50+ detained; Police used brutal force, chased students into library, hostels…IMPRESSIONS: Trouble began with miscreants from outside campus; Local political leaders instigated the youth; Stone pelting by students, also by police.”

“About bus burning, there are too many conspiracy theories, videos and counters. Hard to say anything with confidence, except that 3 buses were burnt and that it was condemnable.”

Throughout Sunday evening, videos of the protests and police brutality were shared. Some of them are posted here :