In yet another incident of gun-violence at New Delhi’s Jamia Milia Islamia University (JMIU), two gunmen opened fire outside gate number 5. Luckily the men only shot in the air and no one was injured, but it is clear that their intention was to spread fear.
At 11:50 PM, the Jamia Coordination Committee issued the following sort statement:
“Firing has been done at Gate No.5 of Jamia Millia Islamia right now by two unidentified persons. As per report, one of them was wearing Red Jacket and driving a Red Scooty having Vehicle no. 1532. No injury as far now.”
DCP (Southeast) Gyanesh Kumar told India Today, “SHO Jamia Nagar along with his team went to the place and searched the area. No empty bullet shells were found there. Also, there were different versions regarding the vehicles on which the alleged miscreants were. Some saying it was a scooter, others saying it was a four-wheeler. Meanwhile, many people, including students, have gathered outside the police station. They will be asked to give their complaint. We will conduct an enquiry and accordingly take action as per law.” Kumar has just replaced Chinmoy Biswal who was shunted out after the latest case of firing.
This is the second such incident at Jamia. On Thursday, a youth who is said to be a minor, opened fire at protesters who were planning to march to Raj Ghat on Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary. One young man was injured in the firing. However, the Hindu Mahasabha sprung to his defense saying they would not only felicitate the gunman, but also bear his legal expenses.
Earlier there were two separate incidents involving gunmen at Shaheen Bagh, the location of a sit-in protest by women. In the first instance a man brandished a firearm but was quickly subdued by bystanders before he could open fire. In the second, yet another gunman opened fire after making deeply communal statements. This man identified as Kapil was taken into police custody, and luckily nobody was injured in the incident.
It is noteworthy, that these instances of gun related violence all began after BJP leader Anurag Thakur gave a virtual clarion call to arms encouraging people attending his election rally to “shoot the traitors”. What is truly chilling though is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s complete silence on the issue. He is yet to utter one word condemning the violence, something that could be viewed by some as a tacit act of complicity.