On Monday, February 15, the Patiala House court premises was a scene of chaos when lawyers and Bharatiya Janata Party members -- including a Delhi MLA -- attacked Jawaharlal Nehru University students who were present on the court premises to show solidarity with detained JNU Student Union President Kanhaiya Kumar.
Ameeque Jamai, a member of the Communist Party of India, was caught on camera being assaulted by BJP MLA O P Sharma.
Speaking to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com, Jamai recalls the punches and kicks that rained down on him and the violence that followed.
I had gone to court in support of Kanhaiya Kumar who was arrested on sedition charges. Around 50 people -- supporters and JNU teachers -- were present with me.
When we entered the court premises, all of a sudden some lawyers started beating us up for no reason.
While attacking us, they said they would beat up all those who had come to support Kanhaiya.
They started asking who was from JNU and as soon as they found a JNU person, they started assaulting them.
As the violence intensified, some journalists intervened and asked why there were beating us up. The journalists said that as lawyers they were protectors of the law and had no right to take the law into their own hands.
The lawyers then responded by stating, "Deshdrohi ka faisla hum karenge (We will decide the fate of traitors)."
I saw the Delhi police were not doing anything. These assaults were happening on the court premises. Soon after, they started beating up journalists.
I ran outside and told senior Delhi police officers that they should take action against the lawyers and stop the violence. But, shockingly, they just smiled and refused to take action.
Soon after, I noticed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley leaving the court premises after attending a hearing.
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