After 2 recent open fire incidents at the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) university, on the night of the 2nd of February, another such incident took place on the University campus.
On the night of the 2nd of February, around 11:30 P.M., two unidentified men on a red scooter opened fire outside JMI, where students were protesting.
The Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) issued a statement regarding the same. The JCC is a committee of the University’s students and alumni protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, [CAA,] 2019.
The incident came 2 days after a 19 year Gopal opened fire at a Kashmiri student on the JMI campus. Asim Mohammed Khan, a former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Okhla and a current member of the Indian National Congress (INC,) was also with the students when the incident happened.
A student present at the time said, “We heard the gunshot. That is when we stepped out to see and the two men left on a scooty.” He further added, “We have taken down the vehicle number and called (the) police.”
Soon after the incident, hundreds of students and citizens of Delhi gathered at the incident spot, Gate No. 5 of the JMI campus.
Shezad Ahmed, a JMI student and a resident of Zakir Nagar, said they were not even allowed to protest peacefully. He said, “We are not going to be deterred by such incidents. We will continue with our protest.”
The Delhi Police registered a case under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC.) Gyanesh Kumar, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) [Southeast,] said, “SHO Jamia Nagar along with his team went to the place and searched the area. No empty bullet shells were found there. Also, there were different versions regarding the vehicles on which the alleged miscreants were. Some (are) saying it was a scooter, others saying it was a four-wheeler. Meanwhile, many people, including students, have gathered outside the police station. They will be asked to give their complaint. We will conduct an enquiry and accordingly take action as per law.”
The continuous protests against the CAA at Shaheen Bagh, the JMI campus, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and other areas are intensifying and such violent acts are increasing as well.
On the morning of the 2nd of February, hours before the open fire incident took place, a group of angry goons reached Shaheen Bagh, where thousands of people were protesting and threatened them.
The incident which took place on Sunday night is the 3rd such incident in the past 3 days. With regard to the ongoing violent incidents in the election bound Delhi, the Election Commission (EC) of Delhi announced Gyanesh Kumar would take charge as the Additional DCP of Southeast immediately.
Ranbir Singh, the Chief Electoral Officer of the Delhi EC, on the 2nd of February, visited Shaheen Bagh, which is said to be a protest site against the CAA.
The people of Delhi are fighting and protesting against the implementation of the CAA, which provides citizenship to refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The Act would give Indian citizenship to the Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, Jain, Buddhist and Christian refugees who are from the aforementioned countries and are residing in India since or before the 31st of December, 2014.
The CAA came into effect from the 10th of January, 2020. While many states passed a resolution against the Act, states like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat implemented the Act.
The Jamia Millia Islamia incident created a panic amongst the people of Delhi and students who are protesting day and night on the University campus.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police also launched an investigation to look for the two unidentified men who opened fire.
The investigation regarding the case is underway.
Stay tuned for further updates.
