Violence hit Delhi’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University this evening as a group of masked goons entered the campus and went on a rampage, targeting students and teachers and vandalising property. Several students have been injured, including the head of its students’ union. The students allege the goons are still inside one of the hostels in the campus. Later in the evening, the JNU administration said they have called in the police and that the miscreants were still inside the campus. The JNUSU has alleged the complicity of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad or ABVP, the student body linked to the BJP, in the attack. The ABVP has alleged that their members were attacked by leftist students.
Here are the Top 10 points in this big story:
1. “I am so shocked to know abt the violence at JNU. Students attacked brutally. Police shud immediately stop violence and restore peace. How will the country progress if our students will not be safe inside univ campus?” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.
2. Over the last 70 days, the university has been seeing a standoff between the students and the administration over a hike in hostel fees. The different schools in JNU have been shut as part of the strike. This afternoon, the ABVP and the administration wanted to open the gates and begin registration, which led to a scuffle with the Left wing students, who are opposing the fee hike.
3. Activist Yogendra Yadav was manhandled outside the university. “This is an attack right under the nose of Delhi police…this was an attack on the university,” he told NDTV. He also claimed that he had information that the police had been present all along at the gates of the university, but did not act. “It is beyond shocking,” he said.
4. The ABVP said their members were “brutally attacked by students affiliated to leftist student organizations SFI, AISA and DSF”. “Around 25 students have been seriously injured in this attack and there is no information as to the whereabouts of 11 students. Many ABVP members are being attacked in hostels and the hostels are being vandalized by the leftist goons,” the ABVP tweet read.
5. “The mob threw huge stones and entered hostels,” a professor, Atul Sood, told NDTV. “These were not small stones, these were big stones that could have broken our skulls. I fell on the side and when I came out, I saw cars completely vandalised, including my car.”
6. Injured and bleeding, Aishe Ghosh, the president of the students’ union, was taken to AIIMS. “I have been brutally attacked by goons wearing masks,” she told reporters. She was “singled out and hit on her head by men who entered the university campus with the blessing of the guards, the administration and the police,” a tweet from JNUSU read.
7. Congress’s Rahul Gandhi condemned the mob attack at JNU. “The fascists in control of our nation, are afraid of the voices of our brave students. Today’s violence in JNU is a reflection of that fear,” his tweet read.
8. Saket Moon, vice-president of the students’ union, claimed the mob was going from room to room “indiscriminately attacking students”. Through it, security guards remained “mute spectators”, he said.
9. In a message, the JNU administration appealed for calm. “The JNU Administration has called the police to maintain order. Efforts are being made to tackle the miscreants,” read a message from the Registrar.
10. Eyewitnesses said the 50-odd goons entered the campus around 6.30 pm. Even around 9 pm, they were inside the campus. JNUSU tweeted that professors trying to protect the students were beaten up. “These are unknown ABVP goons, not all are students, they have covered their faces, and they are moving towards the hotels near the West Gate,” the tweet read.
