Panel constituted by AMU to probe violence during anti-CAA protests asks students, staff to submit statements by 7 Feb

Aligarh: The one-man judicial panel constituted by the Aligarh Muslim University to probe into violent incidents that rocked the campus in December 2019 has asked students and staffers at the AMU to submit their written statements by 7 February, according to an official notification. The probe is being conducted by retired chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court VK Gupta. [caption id=“attachment_7798811” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of anti-CAA protests at AMU. News18[/caption] As per the notification issued on Saturday, students and staffers at the AMU should submit their written statements to the probe panel by 7 February. Similarly, a seven-member committee of senior faculty members instituted by AMU Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor to review all the FIRs registered by police against students in connection with anti-CAA protests is also expected to start functioning shortly, AMU spokesman Omar Peerzada said. The committee is headed by Professor Najam Khalique of the Department of Community Medicine, Peerzada said. He said the purpose of this committee is to help out the students who have been booked under “false charges”. “This committee would explore all legal and administrative steps for preventing undue harassment of all innocent students,” he said. Meanwhile, AMU officials said that there was a “marked improvement” in attendance in all faculties on Friday. The university was closed early for winter vacations from 16 December last year, a day after students clashed with police during a protest against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Ac t on campus. The university was to reopen on January 6 but the vacation was extended owing to persisting tension over the changes in the citizenship law. Students have been boycotting classes seeking the withdrawal of “false cases” against those who took part in protests against the CAA on 15 December. AMU Vice Chancellor Mansoor has sanctioned a grant of Rs 1,50,000 each to two students who were seriously injured in police action on 15 December last year, the AMU spokesman said. The decision was taken on the recommendation of a committee which had been constituted to decide compensation for the injured students, he said. A senior university official said one of the demands of the protesting students was to give a permanent employment in the teaching staff to a student who had lost his hand in the 15 December violence. “We have already decided to give an ad-hoc appointment. There is a procedure for making permanent appointments and we have paved the way for this appointment which would be done under the category of physically handicapped applicants,” he said.