On December 15, 2024, some students took out a solidarity march in Jamia in remembrance of the anti-CAA protests and the subsequent police violence. According to the organisers, the authorities were approached for permission, which was not granted. The administration instead responded by declaring that the campus would be closed on the day for maintenance, effectively blocking the march.Following the event, show cause notices were issued against four students. When students submitted their replies, two of them were deemed “unsatisfactory” by the authorities and handed over to the disciplinary committee. The series of disciplinary actions against political engagements of students triggered a sit-in protest inside the campus on February 10, 2025. “This has been going on for a while. Any mild sign of dissent and you get served show cause notices, you will be blackmailed and forced to sign undertakings promising not to raise your voice again. When we conduct study circles or reading circles, the guards would come and disperse us. The authorities repeatedly cited office memorandums as a reason for this,” says Asheeq Marjan, one of the organisers of the sit-in protests.The protesters demanded revocation of disciplinary proceedings, show cause notices issued against dissenting students and the office memorandums prohibiting acts of dissent inside the campus. However, the protest was met with violence and coersion from the part of the administration. During the night, the authorities allegedly switched off all the lights inside the campus, locked all the washrooms, making it extremely difficult, especially for the female students. On the early morning of February 13, the third day of the protest, around 12 students, including women, were forcibly removed from the protest site and taken to various police stations where they were held until the evening, without their whereabouts being known to friends or family. “We were all sleeping when the guards came. They started beating me up, I tried to run but they kept beating. I was bleeding from my ears as they carried me to the police van. At least four people were beating me,” said Jiyad Muhammed, who was among the detainees. In a press release, protesting students of Jamia alleged that the guards humiliated and assaulted female students, specifically targeting them. “One female student, who was menstruating at the time, pleaded for dignity and respect but was forcibly detained and handed over to the police, highlighting the inhumane and insensitive treatment inflicted by the authorities,” the students said. Recounting the incident, Asheeq said there were more than hundred guards present at the protest site to disperse just 15 students. “We have no idea where they came from, because there are only 50-60 guards in the campus. Some of them had their faces covered. They were the ones who manhandled us. They indiscriminately beat us up, kicked on our faces and dragged us. They even confiscated our phones and ID cards. They then carried us to police buses which were parked inside the campus premises,” Asheeq said. The students alleged that the men who were present with their faces covered were Delhi Police personnel. “Once we crossed the campus gates, the Delhi Police started beating us mercilessly. We were then split and taken to different police stations in the city. As we reached the police station, many students were bleeding from their faces due to the beatings. But the police refused to take them to the hospital and only continued the assault,” Asheeq added. The detained students received a backdated suspension letter from the administration after they were let go later that day. The next day, the personal details of seventeen students who were issued suspensions for participating in the protests, surfaced on several corners of the campus. The details, including college ID numbers, photographs used in college IDs and contact details were published in the letter head of the university’s proctorial department with a description that read: “List of active students who organised a protest without any permission on 10/02/2025 at 5:00 PM at the central canteen hall.”
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