Source – thehindu.com
‘The protests will continue,’ says one of the injured
“When I regained consciousness, the first thing I asked the doctor was the time,” muttered Rashid Khan, a first-year student of History, one of the four admitted to the Emergency ward of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College after the “bloody” clash with the police on Sunday over the police action in Jamia and the amended Citizenship Act.
He only has a faint memory of being hit by a stone hurled by a policeman on the left side of his forehead. As he had an exam of Modern History scheduled at 11 a.m, he was relieved to know that it has been postponed and that the university has shut down till January. “But the protest would continue…I will protest in my Araria [his native town in Bihar],” he said. “Nitish Kumar has said we should start collecting the documents.”
He said the protest started after news of police action in Jamia percolated to the AMU. “We are like bhai-behen. We have to stand for each other.”
Naved did his Alim course from Deoband before doing a bridge course to become eligible for graduation. “I wanted to join the Civil Services but now I have doubts about my future in India,” said Naved.
‘Possible haemorrhage’
“There is a sharp laceration that confirms that he was hit by a sharp object. There were chances of subdural haemorrhage. We considered surgery but right now he is being put on conservative medication,” said Dr. Sathark, the senior resident who is treating him.
On a bed perpendicular to him was lying Tabrez, who had slept after a long and difficult night. “He has internal injuries in the stomach. He has been hit by a blunt object,” said Dr. Sathark. The doctor said it was pretty clear that the Act was targeting a particular community but one should also respect the line drawn by the administration. “There are different ways to show solidarity. When the clash happened, we all gathered to provide relief. Around 125 students were hit. Most of them had minor injuries and were discharged after an hour. Four are serious and are being monitored,” said Dr. Sathark.
In the plastic surgery ward, Sajid is waiting for his friend Rizwan to wake up after the plastic surgery performed on his hand. “He was trying to throw away tear gas shells. One of them burst in his hand. The doctors have tried to reconstruct his hand,” said Sajid, with tears rolling down his cheeks. “Mr Modi fills me with both anger and fear. What have we done wrong? Why are we being targeted,” he asked.