Flag march being conducted inside JNU campus, situation now under control, says Delhi Police. The police earlier entered the campus on the request of the university administration.
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Fresh violence erupted in Jawaharlal Nehru University on Sunday evening after a mob pelted stones at protesting students and brutally attacked JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh.
The incident took place during a march in the varsity around 5pm when masked individuals with rods entered Sabarmati hostel. After violence broke out on the campus, JNU registrar Pramod Kumar said in a statement, “This is an urgent message for the entire JNU community that there is a law and order situation on the campus.
Masked miscreants armed with sticks are roaming around, damaging property and attacking people. The JNU administration has called the police to maintain order.”
Swaraj Abhiyan chief Yogendra Yadav was allegedly manhandled outside the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus where a clash broke out between members of the students’ union and the ABVP. Yadav said no one was there to stop the “hooliganism” and he was not allowed to speak to the media. He alleged that police personnel were standing but were not doing anything, saying “if the police is afraid, they can take out their uniform”.
Reports said as the situation became volatile at the JNU, some locals gathered outside the campus and started chanting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ slogan. They tried to stop and heckle any person who looked like a student.
A News agency quoted sources as saying that the clashes started when a public meeting organised by the JNU Teachers’ Association was underway.
JNUSU claimed that masked ABVP members pelted stones during which its president Aishe Ghosh and many other students sustained severe injuries.
However, the RSS-affiliated ABVP said its members were first brutally attacked by students affiliated to Left student organisations SFI, AISA and DSF. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad said 25 of its members were injured in the attack earlier in the day.
The students union president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University was badly injured as around 50 masked assailants armed with rods and sticks went on the rampage on the institution campus on Sunday evening.
A video clip showed Aishe Ghosh, who was elected as the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president last year, describing the assault with blood streaming down her face. “I have been brutally attacked by goons wearing masks. I have been bleeding. I was brutally beaten up,” she said before being rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences for treatment. According to reports coming in, seven ambulances have been rushed to the educational institution.
The students have accused members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a students’ union associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, of orchestrating the attack. Eyewitnesses said the group of assailants went from hostel to hostel, assaulting students and faculty members. The Sabarmati, Kaveri and Periyar hostels were specifically targeted.
Senior faculty member Sucharita Sen was among those attacked by the mob.
Student leaders accused Delhi Police personnel and private security guards posted on the campus of doing nothing to stop the rampage. Last heard, the students had gathered around the central library to prevent the masked attackers from targeting them individually.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal condemned the incident. “I am so shocked to know about the violence at JNU. Students attacked brutally. Police should immediately stop violence and restore peace. How will the country progress if our students will not be safe inside university campus?” he asked.
The JNU administration acknowledged the situation on the campus over an hour after violence broke out, asking students to keep calm and call 100 if the circumstances warranted it. The police, meanwhile, blocked entry to the campus even as disturbing videos continued to emerge from behind its gates.