Firstpost

New Delhi: Enough is enough, was the message from the angry residents of Delhi’s Jamia Nagar, who are tired of what they call a campaign by the police to depict their neighborhood as a terror hub. Teachers and students from various universities, along with the residents of Jamia Nagar staged a protest outside the Delhi police headquarters on Monday.

The protestors allege that ever since the Batla House encounter that took place in Jamia Nagar in September 2008, police have turned the neighborhood into a hunting ground for scapegoats for various activities.

“The Delhi Police has turned Jamia Nagar into a hunting ground. Residents of the area are being made the scapegoat for every criminal activity and terrorist attack. The entire locality is in the grip of fear. Children and students are living under stigma,” Manisha Sethi, president of Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association (JTSA), which organized the protest, told The Indian Express.

Last week, a team of the South district police’s Bangladesh cell came to Jamia Nagar in search of Bangladeshi migrants staying without proper documentation in India. But as the cops started questioning the youth, word spread that a team of Mumbai Anti- terrorist- Squad had come to arrest terrorists. A crowd of around 500 people then gathered and protested against the detention of alleged Bangladeshi migrants.

Police had to fire two rounds in the air to disperse the crowd. Six policemen were suspended after the raid.

Jamia Millia Islamia, one of the biggest universities in Delhi, is also located in Jamia Nagar.

“Students feel threatened even to live in this area. Once you are arrested, the stigma remains for life, even if the court acquits you. It has happened in many cases,” Hindustan Times quoted Mona Das, a Delhi University Political Sciences Professor, as saying.