Deeply hurt by the way students were treated, I'm with them: Jamia university VC

New Delhi, Dec 16: The Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia on Monday expressed solidarity with the students of the varsity, saying she was "deeply hurt by the way they were treated."

"I am hurt by the way my students were treated. I want to let my students know that they are not alone in this fight. I am with them. I will take this matter forward as long its possible," Jamia University Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar said in a video message.

Meanwhile, police said that 50 students who were detained yesterday during protests at the Jamia Millia Islamia were released in the early hours of Monday.

Of the 50 students, 35 were released from the Kalkaji police station and 15 from the New Friends Colony police station, a senior police officer was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Students of the Jamia Millia University were baton-charged by the Delhi Police during a march, from their university in South Delhi.

Following the crackdown, protests erupted on the campuses across the country. There were violent scenes witnessed at the Aligarh Muslim University on Sunday night following a clash between the cops and the students.

There were demonstrations held at the Banaras Hindu University, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad and the Jadavpur University in Kolkata as well.

"Police have entered the campus by force, no permission was given. Our staff and students are being beaten up and forced to leave the campus," Waseem Ahmed Khan, Chief Proctor of Jamia, was quoted by news agency ANI.

Several parts of India is on the boil after the parliament gave nod to the new act that provides citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who faced religious persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill became law after receiving the President's assent earlier this week following a debate in the Parliament.