Teachers and students of Aligarh Muslim University on Thursday castigated Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath for claiming that the varsity’s students had hit the roads in large numbers to “burn” Aligarh city on December 15, PTI reported.
The chief minister made the remarks in the state Assembly on Wednesday. “I had alerted the Aligarh administration after the violence at Jamia Millia Islamia university,” he added. “There were 15,000 students of AMU who took to the streets and wanted to burn Aligarh city but their game plan was averted by an alert police.”
The Aligarh Muslim Teacher’s Association said it was “deeply shocked” and wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind to get these remarks expunged from official records of the Assembly, The Indian Express reported. “AMUTA expresses deep resentment over the statement made by the Uttar Pradesh chief minister on false inputs and seeks a clarification from his office,” the letter added. “AMUTA appeals his Excellency to ask the Speaker of the UP Assembly to take up the matter with the chief minister and expunge the words from the official records. The statement made by the chief minister has dented the image of AMU.”
The teacher’s association said Adityanath’s statements were “baseless and unfounded” as the evidence submitted by the Uttar Pradesh Police in Allahabad High Court does not substantiate the allegations. “It is being submitted that as a matter of fact, the sad and painful events that took place on the intervening night of December 15 and December 16, 2019 is being in the judicature of the Allahabad High Court, and hence the matter is sub-judice,” the letter stated.
Students took out a protest march under the banner of Students’ Coordination Committee and accused Adityanath of protecting the state police from allegations of brutalities. “The chief minister is deliberately twisting facts to falsely implicate students and thus, shielding the police from allegations of brutalities,” committee spokesperson Faizul Hasan said. “Either the chief minister has been grossly misinformed or he is deliberately trying to frame those who were protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act.”
In the Assembly, Adityanath had said the police and the state administration should be praised for the work done by them during the protests as no riots were reported after the violence in December. He had also claimed that not a single person was killed by police bullets during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the state on December 20 and 21.
On the night of December 15, a group of students at the Aligarh Muslim University had organised a rally in protest against police violence at Delhi’s Jamia Millia University earlier in the day, and the Citizenship Amendment Act. A fact-finding report found that law-enforcement officials had fired stun grenades “usually used in war-like situations or terror operations” at students, and raised “chilling slogans like Jai Shri Ram while attacking the students and setting ablaze their scooters and vehicles...” The independent inquiry team said the university administration “not only failed in their duty to protect the campus and its residents against brutality by the Uttar Pradesh Police, but also that they in fact invited the police forces and their weapons into the campus”. Six students were injured in the incident.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!