Police stage flag march after violence, vandalism on campus
New Delhi: Violence broke out at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday night as masked men armed with sticks attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus, prompting the administration to call in police which conducted a flag march.
At least 18 people, including JNU Students’ Union president Aishe Ghosh, were injured and admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) as chaos reigned on the campus for nearly two hours.
The violence drew strong reactions from opposition parties which hit out at the BJP and accused “those in power” of trying to scuttle the voice of students.
Senior Union ministers and JNU alumni S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman swiftly condemned the incident. Sitharaman asserted that the government wants universities to be safe spaces for all students.
The Home and HRD ministries sought reports from Delhi Police and JNU administration, respectively.
Sources said the violence started at around 5 PM.
The JNU administration said “masked miscreants armed with sticks were roaming around, damaging property and attacking people” and that police had been called in to maintain law and order.
The students alleged that the attackers entered hostels and assaulted students and teachers. Video footage aired by some TV channels showed a group of men, who were brandishing hockey sticks, moving around a building.
Delhi Police said it conducted a flag march and the situation was brought under control after it got a written request from the JNU administration.
The Left-controlled JNUSU and the ABVP blamed each other for the violence.
The students’ union alleged that its members, including Ghosh, were injured in stone pelting by ABVP members.
But the RSS-backed students’ organisation alleged that its members were brutally attacked by Left-affiliated student outfits and 25 of them were injured, while 11 were missing.
The violence occurred while a public meeting by the JNU Teachers’ Association was being held.
“We had organised a peace meet at the tea point at 5 pm. As soon as it got over, we saw that a large number of people entered the campus and they started arbitrarily attacking teachers and students,” R Mahalaxmi, a professor of History department, said.
“How did such a large number of people with rods in their hands enter the campus, that is what we are wondering about. I think they were political activist instigated by the people who always call us anti-nationals,” Pradeep Shinde, another professor, said. (PTI)