Battleground JNU: What triggered the latest clashes?
New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS) What started with a minor scuffle between two groups of JNU students over registration in the new semester, within days turned the varsity campus into a battle field on Sunday, leaving several students and teachers severely injured.
The violence that shook the entire nation as visuals of profusely bleeding girl students and injured teachers were shared saw its seeds planted on Friday when in an attempt to restrict students from getting registered for new semester, some students allegedly barged into the room used to provide power to Wifi connection to entire campus and shut down the connection.
Top administration officials said that the students were identified and the university is in process to get a FIR registered against them.
“At about 1 p.m., some 15-20 students barged into the Centre for Information System and locked the doors from inside. The electric connection to wifi devices wer shut down by these students,” the official had said.
The protesting students claimed that stopping the registration process was essential as the registration was being done as per hiked fee structure.
However from early Saturday, cases of minor scuffles started to rise, with the Left-controlled JNUSU alleging that protesters were beaten up by students aligned with the RSS-affiliated ABVP. The allegation were met by counter allegations by ABVP.
But the situation turned ugly on Sunday when about 20-25 students of the ABVP were thrashed and assaulted by unidentified students, who the ABVP alleged, were members of Left student organisations.
Soon after this incident, widespread violence broke out in the campus with students, including girls, assaulted in their hostel rooms by masked miscreants wielding wooden and iron rods and hostels vandalised. JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh was hit over her eye, with an iron road and taken to an hospital.
Some teachers were also injured in the violence, in which outsiders were also allegedly involved.
JNU students recall fearful moments of campus violence
New Delhi, 05 Jan (IANS) Sunday evening saw tensions ratcheting up yet again on JNU’s volatile campus when masked intruders barged into the university compund, targeting Sabarmati hostel inmates. Those were terrifying moments for students on campus as masked men and even women with faces covered, ransacked rooms and beat up the frightened students.
A girl student recounted those moments in tears, “I was in the room and I heard loud noises and I saw many girls coming. I asked everyone to lock their rooms. We were in terror. While I was trying to take a video clip, they hit me with a stone.”
Even as Leftist and ABVP students are pointing accusing fingers at each other, the police have stepped in and imposed prohibitory orders.
The violence has come for condemnation from all quarters. Political analyst Yogendra Yadav condemned the violence in no uncertain terms and tweeted, “JNUSU President Aishi Ghosh brutally beaten up and profusely bleeding from the head. When will this stop? #SOSJNU #shame.”
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s media advisor Dr Sanjaya Baru, who is a JNU alumni, and whose wife teaches in the university, confirmed the developments as they unfolded in the initial stages.
“I don’t live on campus. My wife teaches there. Her students live on campus. They have been calling in fear. This is an organised attack that alumnus like me should stand up against,” he said.
Violence in JNU, masked goons attack students, teachers
New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS) Violence swept the Jawaharlal Nehru University on Sunday as several masked individuals, both male and female, thrashed students, including girls, and teachers inside the varsity campus with wooden and metal rods.
Two office-bearers of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), including President Aishe Ghosh – who was reportedly hit over the eye with an iron rod, received severe injuries. They accused RSS’ student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for the rampant violence in the campus.
“I have been brutally beaten up by masked people. I don’t know who they were,” Ghosh said as she broke into tears while bllod flowed profusely from her head. She has been taken to a nearby hospital.
JNUSU General Secretary Satish Chandra was also injured in the attack.
JNUSU Vice President Saket Moon also accused the ABVP of leading the attack, which was bolstered by outsiders.
In a WhatsAap message to the media, Moon said:’ “ABVP has formed a mob of goons from outside the JNU campus. They are going room to room with sticks, stones.”
Hostel rooms, and lobbies were vandalised during the assault while several vehicles standing on roads were damaged by the unidentified miscreants.
The administration’s response on the issue is still awaited, while police had reached the spot also.
The situation turned violent after masked goons attacked a peace march being carried out by teachers and students against the violence in campus.
Earlier, the ABVP had accused Left inclined students of vandalising the Periyar hostel and severely injuring various students present inside the hostel.
“Around four to five hundred members of the left wing gathered around the Periyar hostel, vandalised the hostel and forcibly entered the hostel to thrash the ABVP activists inside,” ABVP’s JNU unit President Durgesh told IANS.
The ABVP claims its presidential candidate Manish Jangid was injured badly and may have suffered a fractured hand after he was assaulted.
He further alleged that stones were also hurled on students which caused severe head injuries to some of them.
“They hurled stones, used batons to thrash students inside,” he added.