ABVP alleges anti-India slogans raised in JNU, no complaint registered

Durgesh Kumar, president of ABVP’s JNU unit, alleged that under the banner of JNU Students’ Union, student members of Left organisations, along with a few Kashmiri students, raised objectionable slogans against India on Monday night.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) will hold a demonstration in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Wednesday after alleging that anti-India slogans were raised on campus on Monday.

JNU Administrative Building. (HT File)

Durgesh Kumar, president of ABVP’s JNU unit, alleged that under the banner of JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU), student members of Left organisations, along with a few Kashmiri students, raised objectionable slogans against India on Monday night.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Kumar said they had submitted a complaint to the administration demanding a strict inquiry. Speaking to HT, a senior official of the JNU administration, however, denied receiving any written complaint.

Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Devender Arya also denied receiving a complaint. “We have not received any complaint in connection with the sloganeering and protest on the campus. No enquiry is being conducted by us,” he said.

On Monday, JNUSU had given a call for protest against the nullifying of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories.

Denying ABVP’s allegations, JNUSU president N Sai Balaji said, “There was a protest but I did not hear anything of that sort(anti-India slogans) and I do not subscribe to that opinion or view. That is not my politics. I stand in defence of the Constitution and democracy and any attack on it pains me. ”

In 2016, a controversy had erupted after some students were accused of shouting anti-national slogans on JNU campus. The-then JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, and Anirban Bhattacharya were among the ten persons who have been charge sheeted under charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy by Delhi police.