Police in the capital detained 14 students at Jamia Millia Islamia for a day after the university administration called them in to stop a protest against disciplinary action on two students for organising an event last December to mark the police action on the campus in 2019.

On December 15, 2019, the police had fired tear smoke and raided the Jamia campus after stone-pelting during a protest march against the new citizenship regime. The police were seen on CCTV rampaging through the university ostensibly looking for protesters who had allegedly set several vehicles ablaze near the campus.

They left a trail of destruction through the libraries and even a place of worship, allegedly damaging property worth ₹2.66 crore. One student was blinded in an eye after being caned by the police inside a library.

Protests began on Monday after four students received showcause notices for last year’s protest. The police entered at dawn and took away students who were present at the protest site. They were released in the evening.

The Dayar-i-Shauq Students Charter, a campus group involved in the protest, said: "This arbitrary crackdown on students exercising their democratic rights to protest is nothing but an attempt to stifle dissent and intimidate the student community…. The role of the Jamia administration in enabling this crackdown is shameful and underscores their utter disregard for student rights and democratic principles."

The university said in a statement that a handful of students called for a protest, unlawfully gathering in the academic block since the evening of February 10. "Since then they have not only disturbed the peaceful conduct of classes in the academic block of the university but also prevented other students from accessing the Central Library and attending classes at a time when mid-semester exams are about to begin at the JMI campus.

“These handful of students have in the last two days vandalised university property, including the central canteen and also broken the gate of the security adviser forcing the JMI administration to take action,” the statement said.

CPIML-Liberation's All India Students Association said: "...It is a testament to the strength and resilience of the students of Jamia that despite all these underhanded acts by the administration, the students stood together to resist the diktats and inhumanity of the Jamia administration."