Seventeen years after the Batla House encounter, Jamia Millia Islamia witnessed fresh protests as students gathered to demand justice and a judicial inquiry into the 2008 incident. Members of the All India Students Association (AISA) organized a march titled “Insaf Mashaal Juloos” from the Central Canteen to Gate No. 7 of the university. However, the demonstration was cut short when Delhi Police intervened, detaining several participants including AISA secretary Sourabh and students Mantesha and Shajahan. Protestors alleged that they were manhandled both by university guards and police officials, sparking chants of “Delhi Police down down!” within the campus.

The Batla House encounter of September 19, 2008, remains one of India’s most debated police operations. On that day, Delhi Police Special Cell stormed a flat in Jamia Nagar’s Batla House, killing 24-year-old Atif Amin, a Jamia student, and 17-year-old Mohammad Sajid, a school aspirant. Both were accused of links with the Indian Mujahideen and the Delhi serial bomb blasts, while Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma of the Delhi Police lost his life in the operation. Despite the seriousness of the case, demands for a judicial probe have gone unanswered for years, with families of the deceased continuing their legal struggle amid widespread skepticism about the official version of events.

Student leaders at Jamia strongly criticized the police action against peaceful demonstrators, calling it an assault on democratic rights. AISA president Mishkat alleged that she too was mishandled by male guards and accused the administration of siding with the authorities instead of protecting students. The protest, which marked the 17th anniversary of the encounter, has once again brought the issue into the spotlight, with students questioning why no independent inquiry has been held and why several accused still languish in jail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) without resolution.