JNU protests: Case filed over statue vandalism

The two complaints filed on Saturday pertain to the alleged defacement of the statue on Thursday and “objectionable words used against a particular religion”.

The Delhi Police on Saturday registered a first information report (FIR) against at least a dozen persons for allegedly defacing the administrative building and vandalising a statue of Swami Vivekananda on Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus two days ago.

Students decorate the statue of Swami Vivekananda which was defaced, with flowers and lamps at JNU campus in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo)

The students were booked under Section 3 of the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007, at the Vasant Kunj North police station, where two more complaints were filed on Saturday – one by the chairperson of JNU’s Swami Vivekananda Statue Installation Committee, Buddha Singh, and the other by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).

For the past two weeks, students have been protesting against the new hostel manual over fee hike, curfew timings and implementation of a dress code. While the administration removed the clauses on curfew timing and dress code, it introduced a 50% fee concession for students belonging to Below Poverty Line families. The students’ union rejected the proposal, alleging adverse impact on a majority of students.

Deputy commissioner of police (southwest), Devender Arya, said that the FIR was registered against unknown persons, based on a complaint by the JNU’s chief secretary officer. “We are taking legal opinion on the other complaints for further action,” said DCP Arya.

A police officer associated with the case said that the JNU administration, along with its complaint, had provided the footage of three to four CCTV cameras, in which the actions of the protesters were captured.

The varsity’s vice-chancellor, M Jagadesh Kumar, had also said on Friday that the complaint was filed along with video and photographic evidences.

The chief security officer, in his complaint, alleged that students had covered their faces while vandalising the administrative building. At least a dozen students were named in the complaint and have been accused of allegedly leading a crowd in defacing public property, the police said.

“We are scanning the footage to identify people, including students, who were part of the crowd that defaced the administrative building with objectionable words, slogans and damaged the doors of many offices. Whosoever is found guilty will have to face action as per law,” the officer said.

In his complaint, Buddha Singh said that Swami Vivekananda’s statue was installed on January 5 and the university planned to unveil it next January.

“On November 14, objectionable messages coloured with political remarks were written on the base of the statue. These messages are particularly directed towards a political party and a group of people donning saffron clothes. The said messages are obscene in nature,” the complaint read.

“Vandalising Swami Vivekananda’s statue is a heinous crime and not justified in the name of protest. It is a shameful act committed by anti-national miscreants for their political agenda. They have insulted the country and made efforts to disrupt the harmony of the campus after the Ayodhya verdict. Action should be taken against them,” said Singh, adding that they will write to the Prime Minister’s Office and Delhi police commissioner, asking for stringent action.

Satish Chandra Yadav, JNUSU general secretary, said, “It is unfortunate that the VC is not meeting us and instead, getting FIRs registered against students. He cares about statues and buildings more than students. Also, what they call defacement is actually a medium of freedom of expression in JNU. They took away our walls when they passed a circular to not make graffiti. We have just taken our space back.”

“BJYM national president @poonam_mahajan ji has condemn the unfortunate & derogatory act against the Swami Vivekananda ji statue in JNU. BJYM has filed a complaint against the miscreants who vandalised d statue. @DelhiPolice must act at d earliest & bring the culprits to justice (sic),” BJYM’s national general secretary Sourabh Choudhary tweeted along with the complaint copy.

JNU students’ union has announced a march to the Parliament on Monday to protest the fee hike.