25^th Septmeber 2008

Jamia Teachers Condemn Communal Witch Hunt and Demand Independent Impartial Enquiry

The events of 19^th September and subsequent days have left the Jamia community shocked, aggrieved and fearful. In particular the manner and the suspicious circumstances in which young boys, many of them students of Jamia Millia Islamia, have been picked up by the Special Cell, and pronounced "dreaded terrorists" by a trial by an utterly sensationalist and prejudiced media has created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion.  

On the day of the operation indiscriminate arbitrary detentions were made that included five school children living in the flat opposite and were released only late in the night. Arrests are continuing unabated. Even as some teachers had accompanied senior lawyers to meet with the families of boys picked up, on 23.09.2008, around 5 o' clock, news arrived that Saqib Akhtar, a 17-year-old boy, a distant cousin of slain Atif Amin, had been picked up from his residence in Abul Fazal Enclave. A complaint with the police was filed at the Jamia Nagar Police Station. Within an hour the Special Cell communicated to the boy's family that he would be released. It appears that the presence of a well-known Supreme Court lawyer, teachers from Jamia, and senior journalists pressured the Special Cell enough to refrain from detaining an innocent boy, and ensured that Saqib returned home safe the same evening. This incident illustrates the vulnerability of the people residing in the locality: not only are they subject to arbitrary 'arrests' by the Special Cell, which whisks them off to undisclosed locations, the local police refuses to file complaints or feigns ignorance. Further, they lack recourse to proper legal aid.  

We as teachers feel that we cannot afford to isolate ourselves in intellectual ivory towers. There is an urgent need to reach out to the community which lives at our very doorstep, and where a large number of teachers, administrative staff and our students reside. The locality has been besieged by a sense of alienation, terror and insecurity. We unequivocally condemn this brazen witch hunt in the name of fighting terror and pledge solidarity with the people of Jamia Nagar, and especially the families of those whose boys have been picked up and arrested without a shred of evidence.

Independent fact finding teams and even sections of the media have raised doubts about the veracity of the police version regarding the 'encounter' on 19^th September and the subsequent arrests made on that basis. We demand that an impartial and independent enquiry be constituted to examine this entire episode.

We further demand that a list of students who have been picked up by the Delhi Police/ Special Cell should be provided to the University immediately. The University must demand that no students (whether living in the hostel or not) shall be picked up/ arrested without intimating the university authorities. And upon receiving such information, the administration must actively intervene and ensure that students are not tortured in custody and that their rights as citizens are not denied.

The Jamia Teachers Solidarity Group also resolves to extend legal or any other assistance to the students arrested/ implicated in this entire episode. We shall work to extend the movement to include teachers from other universities, as well as other bodies such as the DUTA, JNUTA, IGNOUTA, and other democratic and secular individuals and organisations.