Thousands of students across country take to streets in support of JNU

india

Updated: Jan 07, 2020 01:33 IST

Thousands of students in universities and colleges across India came together on Monday to protest against an attack by masked assailants in Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), amid mounting criticism of the administration and city police for failing to stop the goons from barging into the campus and engaging in violence for three hours.

Students from Mumbai to Kolkata and Chandigarh to Chennai spilled out onto the streets in support of JNU students and teachers who were assaulted on the south Delhi campus Sunday evening, even as the city police waited outside the gate.

More than 24 hours after the attack, no arrests had been made and police only filed an FIR against unknown persons.

Many students and professors, including the Left-dominated JNU Students’ Union, blamed members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for the attack. But the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) denied the charges, and blamed “Left-leaning students” instead.

“It was an organised attack… There is a clear nexus of JNU security and vandals. They did not intervene to stop violence,” said JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, who suffered head injuries after being beaten with iron rods.

She blamed “some RSS-backed professors” for the attack and said top police officers refused to intervene when contacted. “I was surrounded by 30 persons who hit me with iron rods continuously…they were about to lynch,” added Ghosh. At least 33 other people sustained injuries.

Campuses in the Capital have been on the boil since police barged into the Jamia Millia Islamia on December 15, lobbing tear gas shells into the library, lathi-charging students, and assaulting people to ferret out protesters after a demonstration against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act turned violent.

In contrast, on Sunday evening, police waited outside the gate for roughly three hours as a rampaging mob attacked students and vandalised hostel rooms, and allegedly didn’t respond to a number of distress calls, including Ghosh’s.

The police said it entered the campus as soon as it received permission, and that internal security was the responsibility of the JNU administration. “We have responded to PCR [police control room] calls, and law and order situation professionally… crime branch has found some vital clue and we are working on it,” said Delhi Police public relations officer MS Randhawa.

It was unclear when the police got a note from the JNU administration asking it to intervene. While the suo-motu FIR by the police suggested it was at around 4pm, deputy commissioner of police Devendra Arya said the permission was received at 7.45pm. By all accounts, the police entered only after 8pm, by when most of the violence was over.

“Social media and CCTV footage will be part of the investigation,” Arya said.

Calls for the resignation of vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar also grew.

The JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) demanded that the vice-chancellor either tender his resignation or be removed by the human resource development ministry.

“He is a cowardly vice-chancellor who introduces illegal policies through the backdoor, runs away from questions of students or teachers and then manufactures a situation to demonise JNU,” the JNUSU said in a statement.

In response, Kumar blamed “some agitating students” for the violence. “The protesting students damaged the university communication servers to disrupt the winter semester registration,” Kumar added, suggesting that a student group led by Ghosh, which is opposing the semester exams until a roll-back of a proposed fee hike, was behind the violence.

According to eye witnesses, violence broke out shortly after 5pm on Sunday afternoon as students were leaving a demonstration against the proposed fee hike. Students and teachers reported mobs of masked men and women armed with sticks, rods and hammers running towards them, beating people up and smashing property.

Videos shot by students showed shattered glass, broken furniture and injured pupils cowering for safety from the assailants who shouted slogans, threatening “death for traitors”.

“I and my three colleagues, we were standing near a bus stand. Suddenly we saw a huge mob, close to 50 people, in masks. After they reached closer, they started pelting stones, and also beat us up. They circled me and started beating me,” said Saugata Bhaduri, a professor.

As news spread of the attack on Sunday night, students quickly mobilised in at least 30 cities.

In Mumbai, protesters gathered at the Gateway of India at midnight and shouted slogans against the ABVP and the government; they were joined by students from many city institutions in the morning and top state ministers.

“The violence at JNU is a resounding reminder of the November 26 terror attack in Mumbai,” said chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, referring to the 2008 attack that killed 166 people.

Protests also erupted in Aligarh Muslim University, where alleged police violence during demonstrations against the amended citizenship law last month had left many students injured. Protests were also reported from Banaras Hindu University and Allahabad University.

“ABVP men attacked unarmed students in JNU. They must be booked,” said former AMU students’ union vice-president Hamza Sufiyan.

In Kolkata, students and Left-wing organisations took out rallies and blocked roads. “Let ABVP stoop as low as they can but they would not be able to defeat us,” said Debraj Debnath, a student leader in Jadavpur University.

In Guwahati, already simmering over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, students said they feared reprisals. “The attack on JNU students and teachers is perpetrated by those in power in Delhi with the intention of curbing protests there,” said Pranjal Kalita, former general secretary of Cotton University Students Union.

A day after the attack, students returned to the campus as slogans of freedom and defiance rang loud. The teachers’ association carried a peaceful march to the main gate of the campus where hundreds had gathered in support of the JNU students. “For every rod raised against students, we will reply with debate and discussion,” said Ghosh.

Police defended itself against charges of complicity in violence, saying it entered the campus as soon as it received permission, and that internal security was the responsibility of the JNU administration. “We have responded to PCR [police control room] calls, and law and order situation professionally… crime branch has found some vital clue and we are working on it,” said Delhi Police.

“Social media and CCTV footage will be part of the investigation,” said deputy commissioner of police Devendra Arya, adding the violence at the university had prompted the police to file an FIR against unknown people.

The government vowed strong action against the alleged perpetrators and human resource development minister Ramesh Pokhariyal ‘Nishank’ said no educational institution would be allowed to become a ”hub of politics”. “Anyone found guilty in the JNU violence would not be spared,” said Pokhriyal, adding that the HRD secretary has spoken to the officials of JNU.

Foreign minister S Jaishankar – an alumnus of the university – condemned the violence. “I can certainly tell you that when I studied in JNU, we did not see any ‘tukde tukde’ gang there,” he said, referring to a phrase used by top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to describe a section of activists and political leaders who are staunchly opposed to the government. Jaishankar had, on Sunday night, tweeted that the violence was against the tradition and culture of the university.

But the Opposition and students blamed the ruling party for the violence. “Yesterday’s bone chilling attack on students and teachers in JNU, Delhi, is a grim reminder of the extent the government will go to stifle and subjugate every voice of dissent,” said Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

The ABVP also rejected charges, saying several of its members were injured in the attack and that Left-affiliated groups from Jamia Millia Islamia were responsible for the violence .

“I was attacked by the mob when I was going to register for the next semester,” said Manish Jangid, secretary of ABVP’s JNU unit.