Delhi Police-University Crackdown on the Blind

Delhi University (DU) is beginning to gain notoriety, as a place where woman students are gangraped in public and dalit students are beaten up by lumpens, with the police and administration letting the guilty to go scot-free, and not even allowing FIRs to be lodged in many cases. But when blind people protest for their rights, they are treated by the same police and University administration as criminals, and are thrown in Tihar Jail!

An organization for the welfare of the blind had been holding a dharna and a relay fast at the Vice Chancellor’s office for over two and a half months protesting against the DU’s failure to fulfil the quota of 1% reservation for the blind in jobs in DU. Far from meeting this legitimate demand, the DU Administration termed them “illegal trespassers” and forcibly evicted them from the premises in the early morning on 22 December. University security guards and Delhi police not only roughed up the blind protesters, they tore up their tents and confiscated their clothes and blankets, leaving them half-clothed in the biting cold. Even more shocking, they took advantage of the visual handicap of the blind boys, by snatching away their canes and forcing them to board different buses in order to disorient and disperse them. The visually disabled should have been treated with special care and concern for their security; instead, the DU administration and police chose to demean and humiliate them by dumping them on buses without their clothes and their white canes.

Later in the day, hundreds of blind students assembled to march in protest against the eviction, and were joined in solidarity by AISA activists of DU. The march had moved a short distance when police singled out all the protestors who were not blind, especially AISA president Uma Gupta, secretary Ravi Rai, vice presidents Nitin Pamnani and Aditi Pandey, and joint secretaries Chandan and Vikas. Even the women students were roughed up during the arrest. Then, without any warning the police began to brutally lathicharge the blind students, and arrested 87 blind people, three of them were not even protestors: they were government employees whose only ‘crime’ was that they were blind and were walking on the street. The police crackdown did not stop at that. Leader of blind students, Sunil Mahanto, as well as AISA leader Nitin, Vikas and Ravi were beaten by the Addl. SHO of Maurice Nagar P.S. in the Thana lock-up.

All 93 students were sent to Tihar Jail, after being booked on several false charges, including even IPC Sec. 308, which is “attempted culpable homicide”. The police claimed that the blind students had brutally injured 16 police officials in their ‘homicidal’ attack: but the medical reports provided with the charge sheet could not furbish proof of any serious injury!

On AISA’s initiative, Left and democratic groups, students, teachers and karmacharis got together to organize a protest march in the DU campus on 27 December. The march first gheraoed the Maurice Nagar PS, demanding punishment for those guilty of custodial violence as well as the crackdown on the disabled. The protest march culminated at the VC’s office, where a public meeting was held. DUTA president Shashwati Mazumdar, DUTA EC member Tripta Wahi, JSUSU president Rohit and DU Academic Council member Khursheed Alam, as well as leaders of AISA, SFI, DSU, PSU, DTF, LDTF and Forum for Democratic Struggles addressed the gathering. A delegation of these leaders met the Pro-VC, who under pressure from the delegation, the Pro-VC was forced to assure that the university would move to secure the release of the protesters from jail, the dropping of all charges and punishment to the Addl. SHO. However, despite yet another meeting with the Proctor on 4 December, the University continued with its callous approach.

The various groups then began a signature campaign addressed to the VC and the Lt. Governor of Delhi. Thousands of signatures were collected from students and teachers from DU, JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia. On 17 January 2003, another massive march was held on the campus. Ironically, the VC who was responsible for violating the human rights of democratic protesters and blind students, was presiding over DU’s millennium lecture on the subject of human rights! The protest march stormed the lecture hall, and distributed leaflets among the participants.

AISA leaders Uma, Ravi, Nitin, Aditi, Chandan, Vikas, as well as AISA Joint secretary Avinash Kumar (who is a blind) were released on bail after a week in Tihar. But several blind students remain in Tihar, with the police and even courts deliberately hampering the bail process. AISA has lodged a complaint with the Disbility Commission. The PUCL organized a public hearing on the issue at DU on 21 January. The struggle will continue till all the charges against the protesters are withdrawn and the guilty police officials are punished.

-- Aditi and Abhishek