About three precious years of students were lost before the verdict was issued by a Delhi court that the police made a “scapegoat” and there was no prima facie evidence of the accused being part of the mob violence or their keeping any weapon or throwing stones. The big question now is who will pay for the mental, monetary and physical torture, and the irreversible loss incurred by the students as a result of their arrest and subsequent jail. These questions were raised in a press release by Adv. Sharfuddin Ahmed, national vice president of Social Democratic Party of India after the verdict of Delhi’s Saket court came about the December 2019 voilence case involving students of Jamia Millia Islamia during the anti-CAA-NRC protests.

Adv. Ahmed demanded that Delhi police should compensate the students to the tune of their losses. We are pleased that the students have been discharged and we thank the court for its clear verdict. The question, however, remains about the losses including the missed academic and financial opportunies that were denied to the accused student activists due to the false cases filed by the police.

SDPI appreciates the students of Jamia Millia Islamia and other educational institutions for raising their voice using their democratic right to dissent which the Hon’ble Judge has rightly termed as an extension of the right to freedom of speech and expression. They have set an example how citizens of democracies should stand for their rightful demands, said the SDPI leader. We appreciate the court for chastsing the police for failing to apprehend the “actual perpetrators”, he added.