AMU students squat on railway tracks as a part of Rail Roko Andolan

By Snowy Rahi

On December 27 a non-violent protest march was conducted by the Aligarh Muslim University Student Union (AMUSU) in harmonious support to the ongoing protest against the disappearance of JNU student Najeeb.

At the end of the protest march, while addressing the students gathered at the University Circle, it was decided by AMUSU that a #RailRokoAndolan would be conducted by them on December 31st as a non violent civil disobedience movement pressuring the central government to find Najeeb who has been missing approximately since the past seventy days.

The Rail Roko Andolan commenced from Maulana Azad Library Canteen at 11:00 am on the 31st of December, 2016. The plan was to reach the Aligarh Railway Junction by noon and cause blockage at Delhi-Howrah route. The route would have been blocked till 5 o’clock in the evening.

Even though the final semester exams are being conducted in the university and against the chilly winds of winter Aligarh Muslim University student gathered in large numbers and participated in the protest. The protesting students were tried to stop by the police, P.A.C and R.A.F.; they somehow manage to reach Aligarh Church where Lathi Charge was imposed upon them along with the use of water cannon in order to stop the protesters from moving any further.

The lathi charge and use of water cannon resulted in injuring a large amount of student protesters. One student is said to have been injured on his shoulder while other got serious bleeding on head. Approximately seven other students are found to be severely injured. The injured protesters were taken to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital (Aligarh).

Secretary AMUSU Nabeel Usmani managed to reach the railway junction with some other students but on hearing that the President Faizul Hasan and Vice President Nadeem Ansari along with other protestors have been stopped by the police and are facing a lathi charge, the secretary immediately went back to them.

The protest was brought to a closure by the arrest of about 400 students including members of the AMUSU and WCSU (Women’s College Student Union). The students were detained by the police till 4:10 pm in the afternoon before they set all of them free.

“This was a bold move by the AMUSU. When autocracy and intransigence rules, ‘strolling of anguish’ becomes indispensable” says Sharjeel Usmani, a student of Political Science Honours.

Some videos:

__

Snowy Rahi is a student of Psychology Honours at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. Her passions apart from reading and writing include music and travelling. Rahi aspires to be a writer. She also writes for Times of India-Aligarh edition. All photos are contributed by Ovais R. Khan.