Violence erupts in JNU campus; ABVP and AISA trade charges, some students injured
The ABVP blamed the Left groups for initiating the violence while its routine weekly meeting was underway in the JNU Students Union office. The Left-backed AISA has rubbished the allegation
FollowA number of students have been injured in violence that broke out in the Jawaharlal Nehru University between members of the All India Students Association and the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad on Sunday night. The ABVP blamed the Left groups for initiating the violence while its routine weekly meeting was underway in the JNU Students Union office. The Left-backed AISA has rubbished the allegation.Â
Both AISA and ABVP have lodged police complaints against the other side at the Vasant Ganj police station following the violence which saw a number of students being rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Safdarjung Hospital for treatment. Come media reports claimed that around 12 students received injuries in the clash. Some students also suffered fractures.
According to JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh, who represents the Students Federation of India, the violence was perpetrated by ABVP "goons". While posting photos of injured students on her Twitter account, Aishe also questioned the silence of the JNU administration with regard to the attack on students. However, the ABVP counter-alleged that Left group students did not spare disabled students and girls while perpetrating violence.
This is not the first time that the JNU has made headlines over controversies on its campus. Two weeks ago, an online webinar on the subject titled 'Gendered Resistance and Fresh Challenges in Post-2019 Kashmir' was cancelled amid protests by the ABVP and the JNU Teacher's Forum. The webinar, which was organised by the university's Centre for Women Studies, sought to discuss the situation in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. The JNU administration had then stated that the university cannot be a platform for this kind of very questionable webinars.
In January 2020, ABVP students accused the Left organizations of assault during the registration for the winter session of the university. The students claimed that 700 members of Left-backed groups gathered on the pretext of a peace march and damaged the server room so that the registration gets disrupted. The case is still under investigation by the Delhi Police Crime Branch.
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