Another Jamia girl student at center of viral video during Batla House encounter protest. Read the report here:
Jamia Millia Islamia’s students, especially girls, often find themselves at the center of attention sometimes by choice, sometimes by chance. In 2019, Aysha Renna made headlines when a viral video showed her standing up to baton-wielding police officers to shield a fellow Muslim student from a beating somewhere in New Friends’ Colony during the anti-CAA protest.
At just 22, she, along with several other young women, was hailed for her courage, with both national and international media covering their stories.
On September 19, 2025, history seemed ready to repeat itself as another Jamia student drew attention when her video went viral. In the short clip, a few women staff members from the university can be seen dragging the student while she screams at the top of her voice. Just moments earlier, several students had been protesting on the 17th anniversary of the Batla House encounter, but as police and staff moved in, they scattered from the spot.
Usually, police are not allowed to enter the campus and instead position themselves outside the main gate on Jamia Road to maintain law and order in case student protests spill onto the busy road used daily by large numbers of Okhla residents.
ALSO READ: Afrin and Sushant script a rare global honour for Jamia
The girl’s identity is still unknown, but her video has spread rapidly online, reminding many of 2019, when fiery student Aysha Renna. In today’s incident, unlike Renna, her story was not one of defiance and valour but of the Jamia administration’s high-handedness in curbing dissent on campus. The OT could also not establish whether the girl who was detained and dragged was a passerby or a protester.
Batla House encounter anniversary: AISA announces Insaaf Mashaal Juloos
It was just a day ago, when AISA, a Left-wing student organisation, announced on social media that some students would hold a mashaal juloos (torch march) from Jamia’s Central Canteen to Khalilullah Mosque in Batla House, close to L-18, the building where the Batla House encounter had taken place exactly 17 years earlier.
In a social media post on Thursday, AISA announced the “Insaaf Mashaal Juloos” starting at 5:30 pm from the Central Canteen JMI to Khalilullah Masjid.
AISA wrote in an Instagram post: “We Remember Atif and Sajid! We Remember Batla House Encounter! On 19th September 2008, a 17-year-old Mohammad Sajid and Atif Ameen were killed by Delhi police in a rented flat in Batla House. While the police and government claimed the killing as a major success of their counter-terrorism operation, alleging that Atif and Sajid were the key operatives of an organisation called Indian Mujahideen, civil rights activists, along with postmortem reports, pointed out the loopholes in the police story.
“What strengthened the suspicion of local residents and rights activists was the refusal of the government to concede to the demand for a judicial probe into the incident. Despite the NHRC requirement of a magisterial probe into encounter killings, the Delhi government and the Lt. Governor stalled even that,” the post added.
The student organisation said they are taking out the march to reiterate the demand for a fair judicial inquiry into the encounter.
“Since the day of the encounter, we have been demanding a fair judicial enquiry. We take out a torchlight march every year, reasserting this demand. This year will mark 17 years of waiting justice for the extrajudicial murders of Atif and Sajid. Join Insaaf Mashaal Juloos demanding a fair judicial enquiry into the Batla House encounter,” the post read.
A film was also made on the incident.
Delhi Police remembers Mohan Chand
Delhi Police on Friday remembered the martyrdom of Ashok Chakra Awardee Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who led the Batla House encounter. Sharing a poster, Delhi Police wrote: “Martyrdom does not end something, it is only a beginning.”
“Upholding the finest traditions of Delhi Police and enriching it manifold in his own way, Shaheed Mohan Chand Sharma became a Martyr on September 19, 2008, leading his men from the front in a fierce operation,” the poster read.
“For Batla House, 2008 incident has long faded away”
For residents of Batla House, the encounter has long faded into the background. Once under relentless media scrutiny and burdened by stereotypes with early coverage painting every resident as a terrorist, and cab drivers and delivery boys thinking twice before entering the area, the residents of Batla House now live quietly, their neighbourhood calm and routine, far removed from the negative shadows of those early years, with many diligently picking up the pieces of their lives, recalled old timers.
On September 19, the 17th anniversary, life went on as usual, with the nearby market carrying out business as normal. How much the incident has receded into the past can be gauged from the fact that when some residents noticed security outside the campus and enquired, they were told it was because a few university students had given a call for protest only then did they come to know about it. In the initial years, the Batla House encounter was a major talking point in the locality, with some aspirants even shaping their political careers around it, while the families directly affected by the incident received nothing in return. One of the Delhi blast accused, Zia-ur-Rehman, had also contested the MCD elections but was unsuccessful.
A resident on the condition of anonymity said he failed to understand why the issue was raked up in such a big way this year, as Jamia students have other pressing concerns to address instead of reviving a subject that has long been forgotten by the local residents.
“For some years, media flocked to the narrow, poorly ventilated lanes of Batla House to elicit responses, sometimes even manufactured, as a few media-hungry residents, aspiring to be leaders or present themselves as the community’s saviours, were coached by journalists to speak along certain lines to get the best TRPs. Even then, ordinary people stayed away from the cacophony of claims and counterclaims. Over the years, residents have moved on, facing new challenges and pains far more pressing than the old incident. Just see the same journalists who are eager to highlight negative issues in the locality never come to raise daily problems like the lack of civic amenities,” he said.
“People have moved on and are now busy dealing with more pressing issues. Were the 14th and 15th anniversaries even remembered? I don’t think so,” he said.
But outside Jamia, the situation was very different. Passersby described chaos as students gathered, shouted slogans, and tried to begin the march. But their attempts were foiled.
The heavy police deployment rattled local residents, who feared something major was unfolding. Even a university official admitted surprise at the size of the force stationed near campus. One Jamia Nagar resident told the OT over the phone that her son was shaken after seeing police manhandling students, some being grabbed by the neck by university staff as they were detained.
She said her son told her that drones were also there, a claim that the OT could not verify independently. She said she was expecting a guest in a few hours hoping that all will be fine.
In the video, it can be seen that besides police force, rapid action force was also available on the campus. The stationing of police outside the campus has become a routine, said a resident. Though peace has returned on the campus, it is not known how many students have been detained or not. A few minutes ago a message surfaced on Instagram and read: “While marching on the 17th anniversary of the Batla House encounter, the Jamia administration had students detained through campus guards. The Delhi Police must release all students immediately and unconditionally.”
AISA issues statement
In a statement, the AISA alleged that around 20 students, including female students, were “dragged from the campus” and “handed over to the police personnel waiting outside gate number 7”. AISA alleged that the detentions amounted to “abductions” and accused the university administration of colluding with the authorities.
“How ironic that when students even gather to remember one injustice, the state delivers another,” AISA said, demanding the immediate release of the detained students and calling upon people to gather at Jamia Nagar Police Station in solidarity.
It claimed that among those detained were AISA Delhi State President Saiyed Ishfaq, AISA Jamia Secretary Saurabh, and two other student leaders.
Police dismiss allegations
Dismissing the allegations, DCP (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari said: “AISA activists came out of gate number 7 and tried to march towards Khallilulah mosque. Despite repeated requests, they were hell-bent on marching. After due warnings and precautions, they were detained. No one was dragged at all.”
He added that additional police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in the area. “No one will be allowed to breach law and order,” the officer said, reported the media.
Another resident passing through Jamia Road said: “The situation was grim, and there was crowd on the road and even students who tried to record the protest on their phones were chased. Everyone had fled.” By the time of filing this report, the video clip of the girl student being dragged by university security staff had already gone viral, with many sharing it online.
