Beating up students terrible, you can't unleash power of state on them: Kabir Khan

Students are the "most idealistic" bunch in a country and stifling their voice can spell the "death of democracy", says filmmaker Kabir Khan, who is disturbed by the violent attack in the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus.

On Sunday, a mob of masked young people stormed JNU campus in south Delhi and systematically targeted students in three hostels, unleashing mayhem with sticks, stones and iron rods, hitting inmates and breaking windows, furniture and personal belongings.

This comes close on the heels of police crackdown on the students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University in December over their protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

When asked whether there was an atmosphere where dissent was being silenced, Kabir said, "They've tried to silence (but) have still not managed."
In an interview with PTI, the filmmaker, whose father Rasheeduddin Khan was one of the founding members of the JNU, said such attacks on universities were "extremely disturbing."
"But you can't unleash the police and the power of the State on them. You can't pull them out of their libraries, classes and beat them up. That's bizarre, terrible. If you come down heavily on your students, you're destroying the future of your own country."