On 22nd January (Monday), tensions were high near Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia after videos of students raising Pro-Babri Masjid slogans on the university campus surfaced online. It came on the day when the nation marked festivities for Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha in Ayodhya. After the videos surfaced online, the Delhi Police deployed police personnel outside the campus and increased vigilance to avoid any untoward incidents. However, no arrests have been made so far in this case as no official complaint has been made so far to the Delhi Police. The administration on its part has claimed that they are looking into the matter.
The Delhi Police said that the force has been deployed outside the university as a precautionary measure after videos showcasing students allegedly raising slogans such as “Strike for Babri” went viral on social media.
A police official said, “The deployment of police personnel outside (the university) is a precautionary measure.” As per the news agency PTI, the police official added that the deployment was done given the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha and the upcoming Republic Day.
An X (Twitter) handle named Fraternity Movement JMI shared a video in which some students can be heard raising slogans like ‘Strike for Babri’ and ‘RSS down down’.
The caption of the post read, “Boycott for Babri. Resistance is Remembrance Fraternity Movement Jamia Millia Islamia organized a university-wide strike, urging students to boycott classes and reading rooms in solidarity with Babri Masjid.”
Several other X users also shared the controversial slogans in favour of Babri Masjid when the long-drawn dispute was well-settled in the top court of the land.
No arrests have been made so far. According to Delhi Police, after getting the information, the administration removed all of them. No action was initiated because the protest happened inside the campus and no official complaint was given to the police.
On its part, the Jamia Millia Islamia administration claimed that academic activity was not disrupted because of the “protest” adding that the situation is under control.
An official of the University said, “There were 2-3 students who raised slogans and showed placards yesterday. When we got the knowledge, the students were removed from the place. The University is further looking into the matter.”
Notably, yesterday on 22nd January, the nation marked Diwali-like celebrations when Shri Ram Lalla returned to His Birthplace after a long wait of 5 centuries. The Ram Mandir is being constructed on Ram Janmabhoomi after it was demolished by henchmen of Mughal invader Babar in 1528.
A disputed structure that was built on the illegally usurped land was demolished on 6th December 1992. After nearly 500 years of struggle on all fronts and over 30 years of legal proceedings in top courts of India, the Supreme Court ruled the Ram Janmabhoomi in favour of Ram Lalla – a deity who is a juristic personality as per law. Additionally, the court used its special powers to allocate 5 acres of land on an alternate site in a prominent place in Ayodhya for Muslims to construct a mosque.