JNU warns of expulsion over slogans against PM Modi, seeks police action

The protest marked the anniversary of the 2020 campus violence. JNUSU defended the event as peaceful, while police said no FIR was registered till filing time.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Tuesday said students involved in a protest, where controversial slogans were allegedly raised against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, will face suspension, expulsion or debarment, even as it asked Delhi Police to file an FIR on the issue.

(Representative image) JNUSU leaders said the slogans reflected dissent over alleged inaction after the 2020 attacks, not an attack on constitutional authorities. (Hindustan Times)

On Monday night, a gathering was organised by the JNU Student Union (JNUSU) titled “Night of Resistance with Guerrilla Dhaba” to mark the sixth anniversary of violence that broke out inside the campus on January 5, 2020. Around 35students participated in the protest at JNU’s Sabarmati Hostel premise, at least three students told HT, during which the controversial slogans were allegedly raised against Modi, Shah, and industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani.

Unverified videos of the protest showing students purportedly shouting the slogans surfaced on social media on Tuesday.

“The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration has vowed the strictest action against students found raising objectionable slogans against Hon’ble Prime Minister and Hon’ble home minister. An FIR has already been lodged in the matter,” the university said on X.

“Universities are centres for innovation and new ideas, and they cannot be permitted to be converted into laboratories of hate. Freedom of speech and expression is a fundamental right.

But any form of violence, unlawful conduct or anti-national activity will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Students involved in this incident will also face disciplinary measures including immediate suspension, expulsion and permanent debarment from the university,” it added.

Delhi Police said no FIR was lodged at the time of going to print. “We received the complaint letters, but no FIR has been registered yet,” deputy commissioner of police (south west) Amit Goel said.

The JNUSU said the gathering was organised to peacefully highlight the 2020 attack, when armed assailants attacked several students and teachers at the Sabarmati Hostel at night, leaving atleast 25 injured.

“JNUSU had organised a vigil on 5 January 2026 to keep the memory of 2020 attacks on JNU alive and to highlight the pattern of injustice at Sabarmati Hostel, which was the prime target of the 2020 attacks,” said JNUSU. “The JNUSU stands for peaceful and democratic modes of agitation. The vigil on 5 January 2026 was against the violence the university community had suffered,” it added.

Among those in the protest were JNUSU chief Aditi Mishra, Gopika Babu, Sunil Yadav, Danish Ali, Saad Azmi, Kanishk and Mehboob Ilahi, as per JNU’s security department complaint to SHO Vasant Kunj (North).

In a statement earlier in the day, the university administration said the complaints were filed on the basis of videos that surfaced on social media where students were heard shouting anti-Modi and anti-Shah statements.

“JNU administration has taken very serious cognizance of the videos circulated of the protest organised at Sabarmati premises yesterday wherein a group of students from JNUSU raised highly objectionable, provocative and inflammatory slogans. The competent authority has taken serious note of the incident and the security branch has been asked to cooperate with the police in the investigation,” the statement said. Such slogans are completely inconsistent with democratic dissent and violate the JNU Code of Conduct, the statement added.

Criticising the gathering as “anti-national”, the JNU unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, demanded strict action against the students.

“We strongly condemn this anti-national act, considering it not as a student movement, but as a planned anarchy. We demand that the university administration identify the guilty elements in this incident and take immediate and strict action against them to keep the campus free from anti-national activities,” it said in a statement.

A PhD student who was present in the gathering said the annual gathering was called to condemn the alleged inaction by authorities against those involved in the 2020 violence.

“Every year since then we organise such gatherings on January 5 and we chant slogans, and sing songs. These slogans were raised in the backdrop of the 2020 attack on the campus and inaction of those in authority regarding the same. It was more to highlight the ideological divide with the RSS than an attack on any constitutional post,” said the student.

An association of Hindu groups, Hindu Sena, also submitted a complaint to the DCP (south west) District to file an FIR against the students. “I am writing this to bring to your immediate attention a grave incident of sedition and criminal intimidation that occurred on the campus of JNU on the night of January 5, 2026,” the group said in the complaint.

Delhi home minister Ashish Sood said personal comments made against Modi and Shah were unacceptable. AAP national media in-charge Anurag Dhanda said if the Bharatiya Janata Party government had taken action against those who raised anti-national statements years ago, the incident wouldn’t have happened.