Opinion Why does justice still elude the students of Jamia Millia Islamia?

All that the students of Jamia wanted to do was march peacefully to Parliament to protest against the CAA/NRC. They gathered outside the university to begin the march. The reaction of the police was unprecedented and its conduct incredibly harsh. It let loose tear gas, broke into the university, and beat the students mercilessly. Though CCTV cameras were smashed during the attack, the intensity and breadth of the assault was captured extensively on video footage.

The 99 injured students, many with broken bones and bleeding profusely, were taken to the Holy Family Hospital. Some had their skulls cracked and one of the authors of this article was blinded in one eye by the thrust of a lathi. Complaints were filed with the police with requests to register FIRs but not a single one was registered.

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court failed the students too. The injured students went to the Supreme Court more than once, but the court twice directed them to the Delhi High Court where they were met only with delay. In 2022, even though the Supreme Court asked the High Court to expedite the matter, it had little effect.

The state affidavit clearly exonerated all the students of any wrongdoing. There were multiple hearings and the students’ side was fully prepared with written arguments and had promised to finish within a couple of hours. Yet, there was excuse after excuse, and adjournment after adjournment. Now six years have passed, but the case has not yet begun.

Over the last few years, the judiciary has been on the back foot, so much so that there seems to be little appetite for standing up to the executive and protecting the rights of citizens. This is especially disappointing at a time when the rights to food, housing and health are under siege and state violence against the people has reached new heights.

The demolition of the houses of the poor is routinely reported in the newspapers, while the graph of caste atrocities and the eviction of tribals from forest areas has risen exponentially. The judiciary today is absent from all these conflicts, and appears to have neither the interest nor the time to care for the poor. For labourers, tribals, Dalits, environmentalists, women, children, prisoners, persons with disabilities and minorities, the quest for justice becomes fraught at a time when Indian judiciary appears to have become like a ship at sea, bereft of an anchor.

Mustafa is a former student and Minhajuddin is a student at Jamia Millia Islamia