Students leave from Jamia Millia Islamia as the university is closed till January 5.
Thousands of Jamia Millia Islamia students have started leaving the campus after Sunday evening's violence over the new citizenship law.
''I feel unsafe in my campus and want to head home'', said Umar Ashraf, a student of Jamia, as he stood outside one of the gates of the varsity holding a banner, "Not safe in my university".
The trouble started Sunday evening after a protest march by the Jamia students ended in a pitched battle with the police, vandalism and torching of vehicles. The police, which used batons and teargas to contain the violence, later barged into the university and detained around 100 students. All the detained students were released around 3:30 am.
"I am from Kishanganj in Bihar and we had booked our tickets for December 20 since the exams were ending on December 18. But this thing happened and I am scared. I will be staying at my friend's place for the remaining days and will head home on the day my tickets are reserved," he said.
His friend, Mudassar, who is from Bihar, will also be staying at a friend's place till the time his tickets are confirmed.
Many of the students who spoke did not wish to be identified and were scared of the situation prevailing in the university.
A student, who was packing her bags, to leave for home in UP, said: "My parents saw the horrific visuals on television on Sunday night about buses being torched and the subsequent police action on students. They asked me to immediately return home and now I am planning to return home."
Another student said he had initially planned to stay back in the campus after the varsity announced winter vacations but seeing Sunday's incidents and the police crackdown, he has decided to go home.
"Many of my friends had decided to stay back after the university cancelled exams and announced winter vacations. But the situation is such that we cannot stay here. The protests are raging out even today and we do not know when they might escalate. It is better we go home," he said.
Another student's parents were so scared that they asked her to leave for her local guardian's home and said they will come and pick her up from there. "My parents kept asking me yesterday whether there was any firing in the university and any students were killed. Even though I told them they are all rumours, they were scared for my safety. On Sunday night, they asked me to vacate the hostel and head to the home of my local guardian. They will be coming to Delhi to take me back home," she said.
The situation in Jamia Millia Islamia, which witnessed protests against the amended Citizenship Act, remained tense today and many students decided to leave the campus.
The varsity's vice-chancellor assured that they will provide assistance to students who want to go back home. She said that the students, who want to go back can contact the administration officials, and the administration will facilitate it. Jamia had declared winter vacations from Saturday till January 5 and postponed the exams.
Jamia students had distanced themselves from the violence and some officers of the Delhi police privately admitted that local thugs were responsible for it. In a statement, the students said, "We have time and again maintained our protests are peaceful and non-violent."