AMU caught unawares: CBI probe into violence demanded

The widespread use of firearms by students and other rioters on the AMU campus during the violence on Saturday (April 23) night has caused serious concern among AMU authorities as well as police and administrative authorities of Aligarh.

The impunity with which rioters fired at their rivals and set ablaze vehicles and buildings has put a big question mark on the administration of the sprawling AMU campus.

Two persons had been killed and several vehicles, buildings, students' records in the proctor's office had been destroyed in arson on the campus on Saturday night. The violence and arson had continued for more than four hours and the police could muster courage to chase away the trouble-makers only after the arrival of RAF on the campus.

In view of the fact that a large number of outsiders and non-students were involved in Saturday night's violence, the university administration has decided to seek the presence of one company of Rapid Action Force (RAF) on the campus. Incidentally, during Saturday night's police, police force from all the 15 police stations of Aligarh had been deployed on the campus but the agitated rioters kept on firing from their guns and pistols in the presence of policemen. Eye-witnesses said later that either the policemen did not have orders to quell the mob violence, or they lacked experience in handling such a situation.

The AMU administration, it is learnt, has also decided to get the violence probed by an external agency, although details in this regard are not known. It has also been decided to keep the free wi-fi internet facility on the campus suspended from 2 am to 6 am. Provosts of all hostels have been asked to ensure the ousting of non-students from hostels in a time-bound manner.

The district police, it is learnt, has taken the use of illegal locally made firearms with seriousness since there have been several incidents of firing on the campus in recent months. The possibility of these firearms being supplied by some external elements will be probed, according to police sources. The failure of local intelligence unit (LIU) in alerting the police and AMU administration about the possibility of a violence confrontation is also cited as a reason for the unchecked violence.

The Aligarh Muslim University Teachers' Association (AMUTA), after an emergency meeting, demanded a CBI probe into the campus violence, alleging that unauthorised occupants in different hostels of the University were acting with impunity only because they were getting “patronage from some sections of the University administration.” The resolution added that only a CBI probe would “reveal the sponsors and financers” of the conspiracy behind the violence. The resolution also alleged that the present crisis on the campus was a result of a “power struggle” within the University administration.