Delhi: Students’ groups clash on JNU campus

NEW DELHI: Following an altercation between two groups of students at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday night, both the sides — JNU Students’ Union and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) — blamed each other for the “violence on the campus”.
Allegations of vandalism inside the JNUSU room and students being injured were also made by both the groups. They also took out protest marches on Monday in the campus. Meanwhile, police on Monday registered two FIRs under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 34 (common intention) at Vasant Kunj (North) police station regarding the altercation. Cops claimed no one was injured in the clash.
JNUSU said a study circle, Hundred Flowers Group, had booked the union room on November 11 for a reading and discussion session scheduled on November 14. However, it was alleged that ABVP members occupied the room following which heated discussions and a clash occurred.
Aishe Ghosh, JNUSU president, said, “We reached the union room after receiving calls that ABVP members were refusing to leave. When we asked the ABVP members to shift their meeting elsewhere, they refused. Soon, they started heckling and targeted a student and started beating him.”
Vivek Pandey, a student allegedly attacked by ABVP members, said, “When I reached the union room, they were sloganeering. Suddenly, 10-15 people gathered around me and started hitting me. They even tried to throw chairs on me.”
On the other hand, ABVP stated that derogatory language was used by students who had assembled along with the JNUSU members.
Shivam Chaurasia, president of ABVP’s JNU unit, said, “We were holding our weekly meeting in the common room. Suddenly, people walked in and said that prior permission was required. They started pushing us, used derogatory language and even tried to instigate those present there.”
In a statement, the JNU administration said, “Students are aware that this venue is a common activity or facility centre. Every student is entitled and free to use the place, adhering to JNU’s rules. Violence and unruly behaviour have no place in an academic institution and the JNU administration strongly disapproves of it.”
“Students are advised to use the common facilities with a sense of cordiality and responsibility and in harmony with each other. Nobody should be allowed to disturb the peaceful existence and functioning of others,” added the statement.
On Sunday, the PCR got a call that slogans were being raised and a quarrel was probably taking place between two groups at JNU. A team from Vasant Kunj (North) police station visited the campus and found that slogans were being raised, but there was no quarrel.
An inquiry showed that heated arguments took place between two groups of students for organising a seminar in the students’ union hall. Later, ABVP members visited the police station and gave written complaints. One student from a Left-affiliated organisation also lodged a complaint.
DCP (Southwest) Gaurav Sharma said they conducted an inquiry and then registered the FIRs. “No one has been arrested. People involved in the incident were named in both FIRs,” he added.
Asked whether students were injured in the clash, an officer said they had received four MLCs, which suggested that no one was injured. However, police spoke to both sides and asked them to maintain peace inside the campus. The investigators also scanned several videos to identify the people involved in the incident.