V Joy MLA Displays Broken Police Baton in Assembly to Highlight Brutality Against Students at University Hostel

Thiruvananthapuram: V Joy MLA arrived at the Assembly carrying a broken police baton as evidence of the brutal assault on students at the university hostel. He brought the police action inside the hostel to the attention of the House and submitted a notice for an adjournment motion.

V Joy said the ruling front and the police had turned the university hostel into a battleground in an unprecedented incident in Keralam’s history. He criticised the Home Minister for treating the serious incident, which took place on September 30, with undue casualness.

He described the incident as a government-sponsored attack jointly carried out by the Kerala Police and the Youth Congress. Minister O J Janeesh had led the attack, he alleged. The police entered the university hostel and attacked the students using batons, following clashes during a Youth Congress march.

The decision to organise a torchlight procession had been taken under the leadership of the state’s Sports Minister, V Joy said. Keralam had witnessed numerous protests and agitations over the years. In Thiruvananthapuram, protest marches usually begin at Martyrs' Column, or at Ashan Square when large crowds are expected. However, the Youth Congress procession, which was initially scheduled to start at Martyrs’ Column, was suddenly diverted to the area where the university hostel is located. He said this was a deliberate move and demanded an inquiry into whether the police had authorised the change of route.

V Joy alleged that the torchlight procession was organised to overcome the embarrassment caused by the immediate removal from social media of a video showing a black-flag protest against Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He said the minister had withdrawn a Facebook post after facing pressure from the Sangh Parivar and subsequently decided to organise the torchlight procession. V Joy also questioned whether Gyanesh Kumar and Amit Shah lived in the university hostel.

He alleged that Youth Congress workers had targeted the university hostel under the cover of a protest. Diverting the procession towards the premises where students lived was a deliberate attempt to provoke clashes, he said. Following the attack by Youth Congress workers, the police, who were supposed to protect the students, entered the hostel and launched a brutal assault.

The police, who arrived ostensibly to control the situation, brutally beat students, V Joy alleged. He said there could be no justification for police personnel forcibly entering a student hostel and resorting to a lathi-charge. Holding up the baton that had broken during the assault, he sought to demonstrate the severity of the police action that had turned the hostel into a battleground.

The broken baton itself illustrated the brutality of the police assault on students, he said. V Joy added that the situation in which police, whose duty is to protect people's lives and property, targeted students and beat them was unacceptable.

He demanded strict action against those responsible for the police brutality at the university hostel and called for measures to rein in the police.