Protest In Jamia Millia Islamia Against Sambhal Police Firing
New Delhi: A joint protest by student organisations of Jamia Millia Islamia was held today against the court sectioned survey of Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid and subsequent killing of six Muslim youth in police firing.
The protesters, led by Fraternity Movement along with AIRSO, AISA, CRJD, MSF, MSU, DISSC, SFI and SIO, gathered at the Central Canteen of the central university raising slogans asserting the role of Sambhal administration and the Uttar Pradesh Police for the incidents and murder.
Representatives of different parties remarked on the systematic targeting of Muslims, their places of worship and institutions from Babri Masjid to Sambhal.
The placards from the protest read: “Babri will not be repeated”, “Arrest Vishnu Kumar Jain”, “#AllEyesOnIndianMosques”, ansd so on.
“The azan will rise again from the minarets of Shahi Masjid. The azan will rise again from the Minarets of Babri”, said Mohd Alfauz, a PhD schoalar and executive member of Fraternity Movement’s Jamia chapter.
The unrest began on November 24 when locals resisted an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team investigating claims of a Hindu temple beneath the Shahi Jama Masjid. The survey, ordered by a court, according to experts, disregarded the Places of Worship Act (1991), which preserves the status of religious sites as of 15 August 1947.
Tensions escalated when Hindutva groups accompanied the surveyors chanting slogans. Police opened fire on protesters, killing three on the spot and injuring several others. Three later died of their injuries.
On 26 November, police arrested Zafar Ali, the mosque’s lawyer, after he alleged senior officials planned the firing during discussions to manage the crowd opposing the survey.
