Fourteen students of Aligarh Muslims University (AMU) in Uttar Pradesh were booked for sedition after they were involved in a confrontation with journalists from the Republic TV news channel. The complaint against the students was made by BJP Yuva Morcha, according to a report by Scroll.
The police filed a FIR against the accused.
The incident came to light on Tuesday evening, when a student accused a Republic TV crew, who was shooting on campus, of dubbing the college as a “university of terrorists” in an attempt to elicit a reaction, in a tweet.
In response, the Republic TV staffer Nalini Sharma called the accusations ‘lies’ and said that she had done nothing to provoke the students.
This is ABSOLUTE LIES! I’m appalled at how this has been created out of thin air. I was MYSELF standing and reporting on a story that had NOTHING to do with AMU when the students began to heckle and threaten us. We weren’t even speaking to any student in the vicinity! https://t.co/jHuupm9nNK
— Nalini 🌼 (@nalinisharma_) February 12, 2019
I was reporting live on air when a person who identifies himself as Azeem Akhtar, Security Officer AMU came forward & asked us to stop. Since I was live on air, I didnt respond to what he was saying. He then got agitated that he was being ignored& began messing with our equipment
— Nalini 🌼 (@nalinisharma_) February 12, 2019
I immediately got off air once he touched our equipment &asked him to back off. A no. of students gathered around us by this time and started to heckle us asking us to get out of the campus. My cameraperson was pushed around by students and our equipment was manhandled.
— Nalini 🌼 (@nalinisharma_) February 12, 2019
This was just the beginning. Slowly the crowd began to grow and there was not one police official in sight. The college security asked us to move out of the campus and as we waited for our car, the verbal heckling began to get physical with students constantly attacking us.
— Nalini 🌼 (@nalinisharma_) February 12, 2019
When we tried to fight back, our camera and other equipment was snatched from us. We were physically pushed, verbally abused and harassed. The camera was broken into pieces before us when we tried to record the hooligan behaviour that the students were indulging in.
— Nalini 🌼 (@nalinisharma_) February 12, 2019
After our camera was snatched and broken, these students formed a human chain at the gate of the campus urging the others to “not allow these women” to leave the campus “at any cost”. When we tried to break through the chain, we were pushed back and physically threatened.
— Nalini 🌼 (@nalinisharma_) February 12, 2019
My female colleague and I with the help of three of our male colleagues managed to push through the human chain and somehow get out of the campus. Outside the police officials were present, watching the drama unfold at the gate of the AMU campus.
— Nalini 🌼 (@nalinisharma_) February 12, 2019
We literally ran to our cars while the crowd (150-200 students) continued to chase us. The police provided no help. Our equipment was completely damaged (and set on fire, we were informed later) and anyone trying to record the incident was attacked and their phones broken.
— Nalini 🌼 (@nalinisharma_) February 12, 2019
I want to clarify, there was NO provocation from our side to invite this attack. I didn’t even speak to anybody inside the AMU campus until we were surrounded by this crowd of hooligans who continued saying how they’re not going to let us report because we were from Republic.
— Nalini 🌼 (@nalinisharma_) February 12, 2019
I’ve never experienced intimidation like this. Once outside the campus, I requested the local administration to retrieve our camera because it had the complete footage of everything that had happened. They said they had “no authority” inside the campus and couldn’t help us.
— Nalini 🌼 (@nalinisharma_) February 12, 2019
This is a first hand account of what happened today. Any other version of the story is simply untrue. We have some footage from phones of local journos but most of it has been destroyed. Multiple locals& police officials have told me this kind of occurance is “very common” in AMU
— Nalini 🌼 (@nalinisharma_) February 12, 2019
Some journos are reporting “versions” of students saying that reporters were calling AMU students “terrorists”. Nothing can be further away from the truth! Anyone interested in confirming for themselves can watch Republic’s live report around 1.30pm when the whole incident began.
— Nalini 🌼 (@nalinisharma_) February 12, 2019
Following the incident, the university administration filed two separate complaints with the police one against the journalists for entering the campus without permission and the other against unidentified miscreants for indulging in arson and unlawful activities, The Indian Express reported.
Hamza Sufyan, the vice president of the students’ union, told The Indian Express, said that fracas had erupted during a student event about oppressed sections of the society. “The reporters from Republic TV did not have permission to cover the event or enter the university premises,” Sufyan said. “When they were stopped by the proctor, they misbehaved with university officials and got into a confrontation, raising objectionable slogans calling AMU a ‘university of terrorists’.”
9 charges including Sedition against 14 AMU students. No action on the complaint filed by us.@iamrana @asadowaisi @khan_zafarul @khanumarfa @MahtabNama @RifatJawaidhttps://t.co/cdGX0AF9am pic.twitter.com/6OGT5DPny5
— Sharjeel Usmani (@SharjeelUsmani) February 12, 2019
@SharjeelUsmani ‘s Facebook post.
Please read what happened in AMU & attempts to provoke the students.
Cont’d
1/2 pic.twitter.com/GSnvo0q6qs— Rana Safvi رعنا صفوی (@iamrana) February 12, 2019
The last bit from @SharjeelUsmani ‘s Facebook post#AMU pic.twitter.com/vQ1bbI4be6
— Rana Safvi رعنا صفوی (@iamrana) February 12, 2019
Questions were also raised on Twitter following Nalini’s post, with several asking what she was doing in the campus if she claimed to have not been reporting about the university.
Salil Tripathi, a writer for livemint, among others said: “If you were reporting a story that had nothing to do with AMU then why were you at its campus?”
If you were reporting a story that had nothing to do with AMU then why were you at its campus?
— Salil Tripathi سلیل تریپاٹھی સલિલ ત્રિપાઠી (@saliltripathi) February 12, 2019
And with no permission you went inside to do a live session which is not about the university
— CA Thangavel M (@CAThangavelM) February 12, 2019
Can you please elaborate what were you doing there? What was your agenda and plan? What story were you covering? Do you generally go to a place without any intention of doing reporting of that place? Is it that you just go to any place, stand there and report on some other topic?
— Amer (@AmerShrugged) February 12, 2019
Intriguing. If the story had nothing to do with AMU, what was the purpose of being on air from within the campus? It is very well known that one needs to have prior permission from the university authorities for filming within the premises.
— و.س.ي.م (@beynaamparindah) February 12, 2019
Republic TV staffer Sharma said: “Some journalists are reporting ‘versions’ of students saying that reporters were calling AMU students ‘terrorists’,” she tweeted. “Nothing can be further away from the truth! Anyone interested in confirming for themselves can watch Republic’s live report around 1.30 pm when the whole incident began.”
