The Delhi Police on Friday detained a group of 24 students who tried to screen a controversial BBC documentary at the north campus.
The detentions came days after a similar ruckus at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Jamia Millia Islamia over the screening of the BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Registrar Vikas Gupta said police were called to the Delhi University campus to maintain law and order after “outsiders” tried to screen the controversial BBC documentary at the arts faculty on Friday. The students belonged to the Arts Faculty.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi said 24 students were detained from the DU’s Arts Faculty and the situation is now back to normal.
“We got to know that some students were trying to screen the documentary, so our proctor informed the police. There were many outsiders among those who tried to screen the film. Police came to maintain the law-and-order situation in the area,” Gupta said.Kalsi said police personnel are at the spot monitoring the situation.
“We were told by the university that there is a possibility of a disruption on the campus. They wrote to us and urged us to handle the situation. So we entered the campus and the situation was brought under control,” he added.
“Around 4 PM, some 20 people came outside the arts faculty gate to screen the BBC documentary,” the DCP said.
As it can cause disturbance of peace and tranquillity in the area, they were asked to disperse from there. When they did not, they were peacefully detained,” the DCP further said.
Earlier in the day, the university authorities wrote to the Delhi Police about the proposed screening.
Delhi University Proctor Rajni Abbi said they would not allow the screening and said that the students’ outfits had not sought the administration’s permission to screen the documentary.