NEW DELHI: Students and teachers of the Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology (MIT) in Bihar have requested the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to conduct an Indepen Gent inquiry into the alleged police ‘partiality on the campus on September 23 which left the principal, many teachers, employees and hundreds of ‘students injured, In the fact, a student who sustained severe neck injuries died, allegedly due to lack of proper medical attention, and another lost vision in his right eye, This was apart from the large number of people admitted in various hospitals with severe injuries.
The victims approached the NHRC ‘after failing to get justice from the State authorities, In a representation to the NHRC, the People’s Union for Democratic Rights has stated that as many as 17 teachers, nine nonteaching staff’and27 students were injured in the police action.
It has been alleged that the police not only made a forced entry in the campus but has also tried to remove evidence of the brutal assault on the students and teachers. However, it not just a simple case of police highhandedness but of alleged cruelty and inhuman behavior against students and the teachers which has left a permanent scar.
Some students who were in the capital to meet the NHRC Chairman Justice Ranganath Misra said that the “barbaric attack” by the police was a result of the students’ demand that a senior police official who abused a member of the MIT faculty should render an apology.
According to one of the victims, Mr. Kshitji Kumar, a third year Mechanical Engineering student, “on the day of the incident, an MIT teacher 1.B. Mishra was crossing the road just beyond the gate of the institute when ‘a police jeep had to apply sudden brakes to prevent him from falling. This upset the DSP, Mr. Mohan Rajak, who was travelling in the jeep and he abused Mr. Mishra in spite of being told that the latter was a teacher,”
Mr. Kumar said that the students got agitated when they learnt about the incident and stopped the next police jeep from Brahamputra police station ‘and demanded that the DSP should tender an apology, “We also blocked the traffic and after a mild lathi charge by the police the students got agitated and overturned the jeep.” he said.
According to him, the students were to upset that they wanted to burn the jeep but they were restrained by the principal Dr. Kameshwar Prasad. “Then we had a meeting and the principal told us that he had spoken to the Superintendent of Police who assured him that police would not interfere provided the students are pacified. And just as we were returning (o their hostels we saw that the police had entered the campus and showered Jathis on whoever they could lay their hands on,” he said. The students also beaten by rifle butts and kicked with ‘boots. It was not just the students who bore the brunt of the attack, many teachers, nonteaching staff and the principal himself suffered severe injuries. One of the worst affected was Mr. Keshav Kishore Sinha, who retired as its game teacher only previous July got both hands fractured and also sustained head injuries. His only fault ‘was that he had gone to the institute that day to request them to expedite the payment of his retirement benefits.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 24, 1995
