By Musheera Ashraf, TwoCircles.net
Aligarh: After the suspicious arrest of Sharjeel Usmani on 8 July, the student community across the country are up in arms against what they perceive as ‘witch-hunting of students’.
Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) students have voiced their disappointment over the silence of the Vice-Chancellor of the university over Usmani’s arrest.
“This is not the first time that the students have been betrayed. In the presence of the Vice-Chancellor, it was concluded that there will be no FIR’s against the students by the district administration,” says Mashkoor Usmani, former president AMUSU. “Farhan Zuberi is also a victim of such a case where the VC had promised that there will be no FIR but now Farhan is in jail. He has got bail in all other cases except the 15 December case. We were assured that the students are innocent and will not be charged but it has not happened,” he adds.
On May 28, 22-year-old Farhan Zuberi was picked up by the U.P Police near Mandak, around 12 kilometres from Aligarh. An FIR was filed against Zuberi with as many as 11 charges pressed against him.
Talking to TwoCircles.net Mashkoor Usmani said that there are many cases where DM and SSP assured the students in front of Vice-Chancellor but the promises were never carried through. “It seems VC is incapable. He should otherwise intervene and talk to the government because he knows that there is no involvement of students in events that occurred on 15 December,” says former AMUSU president.
The students of AMU claim to have written evidence with the signature of VC attesting that all FIR’s lodged against students should be withdrawn. It also includes that in future police should not be allowed on the campus and only proctor and his team should deal with university matters related to students. “No information should be passed on to LIU and Police. It was also assured that compensation should also be made to students for damaged vehicles and injuries,” the letter says.
However, students are saying these assurances from the administration have not been implemented.
“Time will come where the students will revolt against the Vice-Chancellor because at one side he talks about restoring normalcy and on the other hand, he deviates from his words,” said Mashkoor Usmani.
The students of AMU see this as a pressure tactic by authorities to warn students against speaking against the government and if they do, they will be booked under heinous charges.
“It is clear that the Central government and the UP government is targeting students because they don’t want any dissent from the campuses,” he said.
According to AMU students, they were promised compensation and were assured that all their valid demands regarding the safety of the students will be taken care of.
“The VC should act as a responsible person and stop acting like a mouthpiece of RSS and should stand with his students,” said Hamza Masood, an AMU student.
Another AMU student Mujtaba Faraz said that the government is taking advantage of the pandemic. “They don’t want anyone raising their voice against the government, that is why they are targeting the students,” he said, and added that, “the silence of the administration is questionable.”
Another AMU student said that Sharjeel Usmani gained support from international rights groups demanding his immediate release. “But AMU administration is silent just to entertain the U.P government,” he added.