New Delhi: Masked goons, armed with sticks and rods, attacked the students and teachers of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi on Sunday.
Around 40 people, including JNU Students' Union president Aishe Ghosh, were injured as chaos reigned on the campus for nearly two hours. Delhi Police conducted a flag march inside the campus.
Aishe Ghosh, the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) was admitted to a nearby hospital after sustaining a head injury. Visuals from the spot showed a profusely bleeding Ghosh, who was reportedly hit over the eye with an iron rod.
Sucharita Sen, a faculty of Centre for the Study of Regional Development (CSRD), was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) with head injury. JNUSU General Secretary Satish Chandra was also injured.
According to reports from the spot, a mob of outsiders, brandishing lathis, from Munirka area had entered the campus. The miscreants have now reportedly fled.
After violence broke out on the campus Sunday evening, 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."
"This is the moment to remain calm and be on the alert.... Efforts are already being made to tackle the miscreants," he added.
Hostel rooms, and lobbies were vandalised during the assault while several vehicles standing on roads were damaged by the unidentified miscreants.
Eyewitnesses alleged the attackers entered the premises when a meeting was being held by JNU Teachers' Association on the issue of violence on campus and assaulted students and professors. They also barged into three hostels. Video footage aired by some TV channels showed a group of goons, who were brandishing hockey sticks and rods, moving around a building.
The JNUSU claimed that masked assailants had gathered near Sabarmati Dhaba and entered Sabarmati, Mahi Mandvi, and Periyar hostels by evening.
The students' union claimed that many students were injured in stone pelting by ABVP members.
They also claimed that "ABVP members wearing masks were moving around on the campus with lathis, rods and hammers".
"They are pelting bricks...getting into hostels and beating up students. Several teachers and students have also been beaten up," the JNUSU claimed.
Members of the Left-backed student outfits alleged that outsiders were allowed to enter the campus and they barged into hostels, including girls' hostels.
But the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) claimed that its members were brutally attacked by students affiliated to Left student organisations SFI, AISA and DSF.
Expressing shock over the incident, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked the police to restore peace and stop violence immediately.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal condemned Sunday's violence and said the situation was being "closely monitored".
The Congress alleged that the attack on JNU students by masked miscreants was "state-sponsored mayhem".
Expressing shock over the incident, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, "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."
The HRD ministry on Sunday sought an immediate report from JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar about the situation on the campus.
The hashtag #SOSJNU has been trending on microblogging site Twitter ever since with tweets carrying photos of injured students.
The JNU administration said late in the night that students opposing the semester registration process "moved aggressively" in a bid to stop those supporting the process, triggering a clash, while "masked miscreants" carrying sticks and rods went on a rampage in hostel rooms.
Police conduct flag march
Protests broke out at many places including near Delhi Police headquarters and at the Aligarh Muslim University against the incident.
Senior Union ministers and JNU alumni S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman too condemned the violence. Sitharaman said the pictures of violence were horrifying and asserted that the government wants universities to be safe spaces for all students.
Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Delhi Police chief Amulya Patnaik and the ministry has sought a report from him.
Sources said the violence started around 5pm near Sabarmati tea point.
Amid allegations of delayed action, Delhi Police said it conducted a flag march and the situation was brought under control after it got a written request from the JNU administration to enter the campus. It, however, did not say if any arrests had been made.
There was a massive deployment of security personnel in and around the campus after the violence and the entrance gates were closed.
R Mahalaxmi, a professor of History department, said, "We had organised a peace meet at the tea point at 5 pm. As soon as it got over, we saw that a large number of people entered the campus and they started arbitrarily attacking teachers and students."
"How did such a large number of people with rods in their hands enter the campus, that is what we are wondering about. I think they were political activist instigated by the people who always call us anti-nationals," Pradeep Shinde, another professor, said.
In a video shared online, Ghosh could be seen bleeding from the head. "I have been brutally beaten up by people wearing masks... I was there with one of my activists when I was brutally beaten up. I am not even able to talk," the student leader is heard saying in the clip.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited AIIMS, where 25 injured were undergoing treatment. Some of the injured were also at Safdarjung Hospital.
"Now Modi-Shah's goons are rampaging through our universities, spreading fear among our children, who should be preparing for a better future... To add insult to injury, BJP leaders are all over the media pretending that it wasn't their goons who unleashed this violence. The people are not deceived," she tweeted later.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury blamed the ABVP for the violence and alleged that the attacks were "planned" by those in power.
A large section of JNU students have been taking part in the protests against the amended Citizenship Act in the national capital.
The university was earlier embroiled in a major row over alleged anti-national slogans being raised by some students in February 2016.
Yogendra Yadav manhandled outside JNU
Swaraj Abhiyan chief Yogendra Yadav was allegedly manhandled outside the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus during the brawl.
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".
