NEW DELHI: To raise their voices against the wide-spread anti-Muslim violence across the country during Ram Navami, various student groups at Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) staged a joint protest on campus on Tuesday. They also condemned the actions by the ABVP over the ommision of meat items from the hostel menu at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on April 10.
‘Arrest the ABVP goons’, ‘Our food not by your permission’, ‘no ethno-fascism in campus’ were some of the slogans written on the placards by the students at the protest. Students had gathered in large numbers to join the protest march which started from JMI’s History lawn and culminated at gate number 8.
The students lashed out against the state and Central governments for their inaction on the incidents of violence across the country. They expressed their anger over rising lawlessness, hate crimes and attacks on the lives and livelihoods of minorities, through sloganeering and poetry sessions.
The protest was jointly organised by the Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO), All India Students Association (AISA), Campus Front of India, Fraternity Movement, AIRSO and DISSC. Musaddiq Mubeen, president, SIO JMI said, “The attack on students in JNU by ABVP goons is extremely appalling and highlights the daylight thuggery and mobocracy that is becoming norm across the country. The bloodshed unleashed in the name of vegetarian puritanism unmasks the violence, malice and bloodlust entrenched in it. We condemn such cowardly attacks in JNU and across India.”
He said, “The rising incidents of violence call into question the role of administration, police and courts. The Muslim community across the country is under siege. We demand the government to protect Muslim lives and properties and take action against rioters.”