Police Detain Jamia Students During Protest Marking 17 Years of Batla House Encounter
The All India Students’ Association (AISA) march on Friday, marking 17 years since the Batla House “encounter,” was met with a forceful response from Delhi Police and Jamia Millia Islamia administration, with students dragged, detained, and manhandled.
Among those detained were AISA secretary Sourabh, along with students Mantesha and Shajahan. AISA Jamia president Mishkat alleged that university authorities directly handed protesting students over to the police. She further claimed that she was manhandled by male guards and her dress was torn. Another student in hijab was also seen being dragged away by women guards.
Students raised strong slogans against the crackdown, including “Sharam karo, sharam karo! Delhi Police down down!” and “We remember Batla House!” Several accused the administration of colluding with the police to curb peaceful demonstrations.
Uthara R, one of the protesters, said, “We were just peacefully marching. Gate No. 7 was deliberately kept open so that we could be easily grabbed by the police.” She alleged that some students were detained even inside the campus, and their whereabouts remain unknown.
AISA slammed the crackdown as “a direct assault on students’ right to protest and democracy,” demanding the immediate release of detained students and accountability from local police. The group has announced fresh demonstrations outside Jamia Nagar Police Station.
Remembering Batla House
The march, titled “Insaf Mashaal Juloos,” was organised to mark the 2008 Batla House encounter, in which Atif Amin (24), a Jamia student, and Mohammad Sajid (17), a Jamia school aspirant, were killed during a Delhi Police Special Cell operation. Both were labelled as “Indian Mujahideen” members, a claim that has been contested by rights groups ever since.
Questioning why no judicial inquiry has been conducted even after 17 years, AISA secretary Saurabh said: “The state wants people to erase the memory of that day. The identity of Muslims itself has been criminalised, and whenever anything happens, Muslims are branded as ‘terrorists.’”
He criticised Delhi Police for turning the university into “a cantonment zone,” and vowed that students will continue their march for justice.
Controversy Around Batla House Encounter
The Batla House incident remains one of India’s most disputed police operations. Fact-finding teams and civil rights groups like PUCL, PUDR, JTSA, and others have raised serious doubts over the official version, pointing to evidence of torture, staged execution, and inconsistencies in police claims.
Post-mortem reports later accessed through RTI filings suggested that Atif and Sajid had blunt force injuries before being shot, raising concerns over the legality and veracity of the operation. Despite this, both the NHRC (2009) and the courts largely relied on the Delhi Police version, giving the encounter a clean chit.
For Jamia students, however, the incident continues to be a wound that never healed, symbolising profiling, stigma, and injustice.
Source: Maktoob Media
