The Jamia Nagar area which is situated in close proximity to the Jamia Milia Islamia University turned into a virtual warzone on Sunday. The protests led by Jamia Milia Islamia students turned violent. Four DTC buses were torched and several policemen injured. The incident came as a shock to the National Capital. However, Jamia Nagar has a history of violence and communal protests. 11 years ago, ‘Operation Batla House’ had taken place in Batla House locality of Jamia Nagar, Delhi wherein two terrorists were killed, two arrested and another one escaped. Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma gave supreme sacrifice during the ecounter.
The terrorists had gone into hiding at L-18, Jamia Nagar where the encounter was carried out. The police recovered AK-47s, pistols and revolvers from the site of encounter in the Batla House locality of Jamia Nagar. The Jamia Nagar area has witnessed several posts ever since, mostly claiming that the encounter was fake. The Jamia Milia Islamia University too organised aid and rally for two of its students- Zia-ur-Rehman and Mohammed Shakeel, who were arrested as terror suspects after the Batla House encounter.
In the year 2008, the indoctrinated minds at Jamia Nagar and Jamia Milia Islamia University had fallen to the rumours and myths surrounding the Batla House encounter, and the area witnessed protests in favour of terrorists and against the Delhi Police. 11 years later, not much has changed as both the University and the Jamia Nagar area once again fell for fake news and rumours about the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. The presence of indoctrinated and anti-national elements which get easily provoked and incited by such rumours and resort to violence has been the cause of such infamous incidents at the locality.
In fact, Jamia Nagar’s tryst with violence and communal protests pre-dates the Batla House encounter. In the year 2007, the Jamia Nagar area had witnessed violent protests on an even greater scale than what it witnessed on Sunday. It was again a case of anti-social, indoctrinated mobs getting easily enraged on the basis of rumours, and going berserk. Two police posts were set afire by a mob of local residents and students around the Jamia Milia Islamia University. The rumour that a Quran was dropped by a policeman led to massive violence that resulted in two dozen police officials getting injured. A local leader went on to slap a police official only on the basis of such rumours. The SHO and the Additional SHO of the area were severely injured too and even the police records were set on fire by thousands of rioters.
The presence of suspicious elements as manifested by an encounter in the year 2000 in Jamia Nagar area when a Lashkar terrorist involved in the Red Fort attack was killed, coupled with radicalised minds that get easily incited is the reason behind the violence that the area witnesses at the slightest of rumouring and fear mongering. The locality had earned the reputation of falling to rumours and committing to violence 11-12 years ago, and the Jamia Nagar violence on Sunday shows that absolutely nothing has changed over the years.
