Jamia Millia tense as students protest RSS event on campus
New Delhi: Amidst the heavy presence of Delhi police and Rapid Action Force, students held placards that read "Jamia is our university, not your shakha' and 'reject saffronisation of our campus', as they raised slogans.
Protesters voiced concerns about the 'saffronisation' of the university campus. Student organisations criticised the university for allegedly favouring the RSS event over other student activities.
The RSS-linked event was part of the 'Yuva Kumbh' initiative. More than 50 students of Jamia Millia Islamia staged a protest on the campus on Tuesday, opposing a programme marking 100 years of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Amidst the heavy presence of Delhi police and Rapid Action Force, students held placards that read "Jamia is our university, not your shakha' and 'reject saffronisation of our campus', as they raised slogans of 'Inquilab Zindabad' on the campus.
"The RSS is trying to get their chief guest inside the auditorium through one of the many entrances, but we are protesting right outside the auditorium," one of the protesting students told PTI.
The protesters, affiliated with left-leaning student organisations such as the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students' Association (AISA), urged the RSS functionaries present there to leave the campus immediately.
The RSS-linked event, being held as part of the 'Yuva Kumbh' initiative to celebrate the organisation's centenary, had drawn objections a day earlier from the SFI's Jamia unit, which termed it a "direct provocation".
AISA Delhi president and Jamia student Saiyed alleged differential treatment by the university administration.
"This is the same Jamia where other student groups are not even allowed to hold discussions without security intervention, but the RSS has been permitted to organise a full programme in an air-conditioned hall," he said.
He added that students would continue to resist similar events in the future to "defend our democratic rights".
Visuals circulating on social media showed protesting students enduring sweltering heat as temperatures in the National Capital remained high.
The tensions at the Jamia come in the backdrop of Delhi University colleges holding RSS-linked events, which have come under criticism from students and teachers' organisations.
