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Students, teachers march in JNU to mark one year of violence
Students from different left-affiliated organisations and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) conducted a peace march on Tuesday to mark the one year
Students from different left-affiliated organisations and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) conducted a peace march on Tuesday to mark the one year anniversary of the violence that took place on the varsity campus on this day last year.
On January 5, 2020, a masked mob — armed with sticks, rods, and bricks — went on the rampage at JNU campus and attacked the students and teachers.
At least 35 persons were injured in the incident, including JNU students’ union (JNUSU) president, Aishe Ghosh.
Carrying placards and posters with messages like “one year on, yet no arrest”, students and teachers gathered at Sabarmati T-point on Tuesday. It was the same spot where a peace gathering was disrupted by the mob on January 5, 2020.
Addressing the gathering on Tuesday, Ghosh said, “We have been fighting to save our education institutions and for that we are ready to get beaten and thrashed again. For every rod raised against students, we will reply with debates and discussions.”
Ghosh was attacked with a rod on her head by the mob and had received severe injuries on her head and had left her with a fractured left arm.
JNUSU vice president Saket Moon said, “We have gathered here to tell the government and the JNU administration that we will never forget what happened at our campus last year. We want the perpetrators, who were the members of ABVP, to be held accountable and justice be delivered to the victims.”
The students and teachers concluded their march near Sabarmati hostel by lighting candles.
The members of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also took out a march alleging that the left students’ groups were responsible for last year’s violence. Shivam Chaurasiya, president of ABVP’s JNU unit, said, “It is really saddening to see how Left-affiliated students’ organisations turned violent after they could not reach an amicable solution last year. Several ABVP activists and sympathisers were targeted and beaten with rods and sticks. Even the common students were not spared by violent mobs that were led by the JNUSU.”
In the week leading up to the violence, the campus had been in a tense state due to clashes between different student groups over the boycott of semester registration as part of the protest against hostel fee hike. While the Left outfits were demanding a boycott, the Right-wing groups were demanding that the registration process must be continued.
Officials in the university’s security department said that no permission was sought by either of the groups for the march. “Any gathering is prohibited in the campus at present in view of the pandemic. The situation remained peaceful .”
