Students gathered at Jamia Millia Islamia for Diwali celebrations detained

     New Delhi, Oct 23 (PTI) Delhi Police detained around half a dozen students who gathered at Jamia Millia Islamia University for Diwali celebrations on Wednesday, a day after a scuffle broke out between two groups of students during a similar event.
     A senior police official stated the detentions were made because the university administration, in view of last night's scuffle, had not granted permission for holding another Diwali event this evening.
     The university administration also filed a formal complaint at the Jamia Nagar Police Station against unidentified individuals involved in Tuesday incident, the Vice Chancellor said.
     Approximately 30-40 students affiliated with ABVP, including those from other universities like JNU and DU, gathered outside the university to hold a 'Deep Mahotsav' today. The police asked them to leave due to the lack of permission from the university.
     "Some ABVP-affiliated students arrived outside the university, but the police repeatedly asked them to leave. However, the ABVP supporters were adamant about celebrating Diwali. In the meantime, the police used mild force to remove them from outside the university," the official said. The students did not have permission from the university to hold the event again on Wednesday, the officer added.
     On Tuesday night, a scuffle broke out between two groups of students during Diwali celebrations at Jamia Millia Islamia University, leading to police personnel being deployed outside its gates as a precautionary measure, police officers said.
     The Diwali event was organised by the Rashtriya Kala Manch (RKM), a dimension of the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at the university. The ABVP planned to hold a 'Deep Mahotsav' again on Wednesday evening.
     Meanwhile, the Association of Minorities at Jamia criticised the incident, expressing concern over the allegedly increasing attacks on minority Hindu students at the university. They demanded that the university launch an investigation and take strict action against the perpetrators.
     In a statement, the association said, "On Tuesday evening, during the peaceful Deepotsav celebration at Jamia Millia Islamia, students (including Muslim students) were joyfully participating and exercising their constitutional right to celebrate a festival. Unfortunately, at the end of the event, a group of anti-social elements accompanied by outsiders began shouting slogans such as 'Palestine Zindabad' and 'Allah hu Akbar.'"
     "It is important to note that such incidents at the university are not new. Similar events have occurred in the past, and no decisive action has been taken by either the police or the university administration," the statement said while listing previous incidents of a similar nature.
     "We, the JMI Alumni Association of Minorities, are deeply concerned about the safety and security of non-Muslim students, as well as their cultural and religious rights on campus," it added.
     The association also demanded that the university administration create a body to address the complaints of aggrieved students.
     Calls and messages to Jamia Millia Islamia University's officiating Vice Chancellor, Mohammad Shakeel, went unanswered. However, the university administration later issued a statement.
     "On the incident that took place during Diwali Celebrations at Jamia Millia Islamia last evening, the university administration would like to say that it appears to be a completely sponsored incident and there seems to be involvement of some outside elements in it with an attempt to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the university," the statement read.
     "The students were given conditional permission by the administration to celebrate Diwali. Everything went on peacefully until 7:30 p.m. when some sloganeering started by unidentified persons. It shows that the outside elements in the crowd deliberately created disturbance as per a well thought out strategy which was later on joined by some other students in a fit of rage," it added.
     "The university administration has filed a formal complaint in the Jamia Nagar Police Station against the unidentified persons in this matter.
     Besides, the accused are being identified by the University through CCTV footage and internal sources for taking appropriate action against them, " it added.
     According to police, the scuffle broke out after one group of students disrupted the Diwali celebrations of another group. The situation was brought under control, and the students dispersed following the intervention of university security personnel.
     Videos purportedly showing students chanting "communal" slogans inside the campus have been circulating on social media. After receiving information about tensions within the university, police personnel were deployed outside its gates and around the campus as a precautionary measure, the officer said. Another senior officer stated that local police had been instructed to increase vigilance around the campus.
     Unfazed by the incident, students planned to hold a 'Deep Mahotsav' on the campus on Wednesday evening, according to ABVP national media convener Ashutosh Singh.
     "Educational institutions should be open to celebrating all festivals. If an Iftar party can be organized on campus, Diwali celebrations should also be allowed. We had permission from the proctor's office for the event held on Tuesday evening," Singh said.
     "There were other students, including Muslims, celebrating with us, but some radical elements came and physically assaulted them," he alleged, adding that the university did not take adequate measures to prevent violence, given the sensitive nature of the issue. Singh stated that the ABVP would file a police complaint regarding the matter.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)