New Delhi: A video of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students blocking the flag march conducted by the Delhi Police and shouting slogans asking them to go back after unprecedented violence was seen in the varsity campus on Sunday has come to fore.
In the video, a large number of JNU students can be seen shouting 'Delhi Police, go back' and blocking a police flag march led by Special Commissioner of Police, (Law and Order), RS Krishnaiah after the violence.
The students blocked the police path at the Sabarmati T-point. However, the police managed to dodge the students' blockade and continued to march towards the convention centre. But even before they could cover some distance, the flag march was once again blocked by the protesting students.
#WATCH Delhi: 'Delhi police, go back' slogans raised during the flag march conducted by police inside Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus. pic.twitter.com/w5OYN3DAo0
— ANI (@ANI) January 5, 2020
The students continued to shepherd the police backwards towards the North Gate of the JNU campus. Tension in the varsity campus began after masked individuals, both male and female, thrashed students, including girls, and teachers inside the campus with wooden and metal rods, injuring many.
The university authorities have blamed students, opposing the registration process, for the violence on campus. While the number of the injured in the various clashes which occurred through the day was not yet known, at least 20 students were admitted to the AIIMS with severe injuries following the evening clash.
They included 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.
JNUSU General Secretary Satish Chandra was also injured in the attack. JNUSU Vice President Saket Moon accused the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad of leading the attack, which was bolstered by outsiders. Hostel rooms, and lobbies, and vehicles standing on the road were vandalised during the assault.
On the other hand, the ABVP blamed Left-affiliated students for an earlier attack on its activists that had left several injured.
The ABVP claims its presidential candidate Manish Jangid was injured badly and may have suffered a fractured hand after he was assaulted. According to intelligence reports and students, the genesis of the clashes began in the confrontation between students seeking to stall the semester registration process as part of their agitation against the hostel fees hike and groups opposing them.
Members of the earlier group were allegedly behind the disruption of the varsity`s Wifi network late on Friday. The JNU administration summoned the police which deployed in the campus and prohibitory orders were imposed. Four goons were nabbed from the varsity`s main North Gate late on Sunday.
Both groups also reached the Vasant Kunj police station late night to file complaints about the violence. While eyewitnesses maintained that the flare-up could have been averted if the police had taken action on time, Special Commissioner of Police, RS Krishnaiah said that the police entered the campus only on the varsity administration`s request following the clash.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah ordered the Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik to take all necessary action to control the situation in the campus. He also ordered an inquiry.
The violence was condemned by leaders across the political spectrum. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar - both JNU alumni - on Sunday condemned the violence.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who reached the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to meet the injured JNU students, later said, in a tweet, that there was "something deeply sickening about a government that allows and encourages such violence to be inflicted on their own children". Her brother and former party chief Rahul Gandhi attacked the Central government.
CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, also a former JNUSU leader, also condemned the violence, and the party`s student wing, the Students Federation of India, called for a nationwide protest on Monday. CPI-M leader Brinda Karat also reached the AIIMS to meet the injured students.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also said he was shocked by the violence.
(With Agency Inputs)
