JNU Violence Updates: Deepika Padukone Joins JNU Students In Solidarity

Violence broke out at Jawaharlal Nehru University on Sunday night as masked men armed with sticks attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus, prompting the administration to call in police which conducted a flag march.

At least 28 people, including JNU Students' Union president Aishe Ghosh, were injured and admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences as chaos reigned on the campus for nearly two hours.

The violence drew strong reactions from opposition parties which hit out at the BJP and accused "those in power" of trying to scuttle the voice of students.

Senior Union ministers and JNU alumni S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman swiftly condemned the incident. Sitharaman asserted that the government wants universities to be safe spaces for all students.

The Home and HRD ministries sought reports from Delhi Police and JNU administration, respectively. Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to the Delhi Police chief and enquired about the situation at JNU.

Sources said the violence started at around 5 p.m.

JNU’s Statement

The JNU on Sunday night said students opposing the semester registration process "moved aggressively" in a bid to stop those supporting the process, triggering a clash, while "masked miscreants" carrying sticks and rods went on a rampage in hostel rooms.

It warned that those who were "trying to disrupt peaceful academic atmosphere of campus will not be spared" and said it is filing a police complaint to bring the culprits to book.

Explaining how scuffles turned violent, it said those who had registered in the winter semester wanted to enter the school buildings but they were physically prevented by students agitating against the hostel fee hike.

The JNUSU had also called for a boycott of the registration process to press for a complete rollback of the increase in hostel fees.

Delhi Police Public Relations Officer MS Randhawa held a meeting with a delegation of students and teachers after violence broke out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, officials said on Monday.

The delegation comprising students and teachers from JNU, Jamia and Delhi University submitted an application to the Delhi Police PRO with four demands, including urgent medical assistance to injured students and arrest of the accused behind the violence.

"The police have assured us that they will look into the matter and our demands," president Federation of Central University teachers' associations Rajib Ray said.

The students demanded that police leave the JNU campus.

Read More.

Students from various colleges held a protest at the Gateway of India on Sunday midnight to condemn the Jawaharlal Nehru University violence.

Former JNU students Umar Khalid and Kunal Kamra were part of the group which also held a candlelight vigil to show solidarity with JNU students.

Youngsters, mostly students from different city colleges, assembled on the pavement across Hotel Taj near the Gateway of India to condemn the violence.

Read More.

The Delhi Police has registered a case against unidentified people in connection with violence in Jawaharlal Nehru University, officials said on Monday.

The case has been registered under section of rioting and damage to property, they said.

JNU Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar on Monday appealed to all students to maintain peace, saying top priority of varsity is to protect the academic interests of students.

The appeal came a day after masked men indulged in violence in the JNU campus.

"Would like to appeal to all students to maintain peace. The University stands by all students to facilitate their pursuit of academic activities. We will ensure that their winter semester registration will take place without any hindrance," he said in a statement.

"The top priority of the University is to protect the academic interests of our students," Kumar said.

Some students on Monday shouted slogans during a seminar at the Panjab University to protest the violence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

The students shouted slogans when Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta was speaking a seminar- 'Women's Participation in Decision Making' at the PU campus.

Protesters including girls students were taken out of the seminar hall by the security personnel.

Later talking to media, one of the protesters Kanupriya strongly condemned the attack on the Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union President Aishe Ghosh.

Talking to reporters, Gupta described the protest as "a premeditated act".

Politicians across India’s national and local parties condemned the violence carried out by masked goons in the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus on Sunday evening, calling it a “cowardly” and “planned” attack.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also the TMC supremo, said she had begun her political career as a student leader but never before witnessed such "brazen attack" on educational institutes.

"Whatever is happening across the country is very disturbing... I, too, was involved in student politics at one point in time, but never before have I witnessed this sort of an attack on students and educational institutions...”

"Yesterday's was a fascist strike on the student community," Banerjee told reporters, before leaving for her three-day trip to Gangasagar.

Congress President Sonial Gandhi called the attack “bone chilling”, adding that it’s a grim reminder of the extent the government will go to stifle voice of dissent.

Shiv Sena supremo and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray demanded that the attackers’ identity be revealed while NCP chief Sharad Pawar said JNU students were subjected to a "cowardly and planned attack", adding that use of violence to suppress democratic values won't succeed.

The Congress on Monday demanded that Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik be held accountable for the attacks on a group of Jawaharlal Nehru University students and teachers by a violent mob, saying the perpetrators must be identified and arrested within 24 hours.

Strongly condemning the attacks, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said the "buck starts with the Commissioner of Police and stops with Home minister Amit Shah." Chidambaram said the JNU violence was an example of the country's "descent into fascism" and the incident was the most clinching evidence of India rapidly descending into anarchy.

He said he was "absolutely sure" that there were intelligence inputs on Sunday's attacks and pointed towards the failure of the Delhi police in preventing the violence on JNU campus.

Crime Branch has found some vital clue regarding the perpetrators of violence at the university and Delhi Police was working on it. That’s according to a PTI report.

The police also said it responded to calls and managed the law and order situation professionally, in response to charges on reaching the campus late.

Members of various students and youth organisations staged a demonstration at the Savitribai Phule Pune University on Monday evening to denounce the violence at the JNU campus in New Delhi.

Maharashtra Minister and Congress leader Vishwajeet Kadam also took part in the protest.

Holding placards and shouting slogans, the agitators took part in the protests and condemned the attack on the JNU students and teachers.

The protest lasted for more than three hours on the varsity campus and saw participation of students, members from various organizations, citizens and some of the JNU alumni.

Agitating students also recited Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poem 'Hum Dekhenge', which was recently at the centre of a row at the IIT Kanpur.

People protesting against the JNU violence were evicted from Gateway of India in south Mumbai on Tuesday morning as roads were getting blocked and tourists and common people were facing problems, a police official said.

Police had appealed to protesters to shift but they didn't listen, so they were "relocated" to Azad Maidan near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the official said.

Earlier, hundreds of people, including students, women and senior citizens - who assembled at the iconic Gateway of India since Sunday midnight - demanded action against those behind the JNU violence and resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Violence broke out in the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi on Sunday night as masked men armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus. Nearly 34 people were injured in the violence.

With tambourines and guitars in their hands and songs of revolution on their lips, people protested against the attack on JNU students throughout the night in front of the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Palace hotel here.

Songs like 'Hum dekhenge', 'Hum honge kamyab' and 'Sarfaroshi ki tamanna' rent the air as students of IIT Bombay, TISS, and members of students' organisations, including the ASFI, raised slogans against Modi and Shah.

The protesters waived the tricolour and raised slogans like 'Kagaz nahi dikhayenge' (won't show documents) and 'Tum kaun ho be' (who are you?).

They also raised slogans against the alleged "tanashahi" (dictatorship) of Modi-Shah as they opposed the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register.

The protesters also brought up the issue of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act-2019.

There was heavy police deployment at the protest site where water, tea, biscuits and fruits were served to protesters during the night. The city civic body also made arrangements for toilets.

The protest organisers had earlier asked participants to bring food, water, bed sheets, jackets, mats, power banks, charger and medicines along with them.

On Monday, protests were organised near the Hutatma Chowk in Fort area, but later the permission was denied.

A call was given that people join the protest in front of the Gateway of India. Demonstrations had started there after Sunday midnight.

Beside Mumbai, protests against the violence were held on Monday in Aurangabad and Pune, among other cities.

Political leaders led by state Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also condemned the attack.

Maharashtra minister Jitendra Awhad joined the protest at the Gateway of India on Monday, while Thackeray said the JNU violence reminded him of the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Protest against the JNU violence was called off on Mumbai on Tuesday after the demonstrators were shifted from the Gateway of India to Azad Maidan, police said.

In the morning, several protesters, including students and women, were taken in police vans from the iconic Gateway of India in south Mumbai as roads were getting blocked and people, including tourists, were facing problems, a police official said.

Police had appealed to protesters to shift but when they didn't listen, they were "relocated" to Azad Maidan near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1) Sangramsingh Nishandar said.

"After the protesters were relocated, they called off their demonstration," he said.

Since the demonstration was posing problems for tourists and in traffic movement, the protesters were requested to move to the Azad Maidan, he added.

While most of the students who were part of the protest left the Azad Maidan after the demonstration was called off, some people, including women, were still at the ground, another police official said.

Earlier, hundreds of people, including students, women and senior citizens - who assembled at the iconic Gateway of India since Sunday midnight - demanded action against those behind the JNU violence and resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

JNU Professor Sucharita Sen, who suffered head injuries during an attack on students and teachers in the university campus on Sunday, has filed a police complaint.

Sen said outsiders had gathered at the university campus with sticks, rods, and deadly weapons.

She said she was first hit with a large stone on her shoulder and then with even a larger one on her head, following which she fell on the ground bleeding profusely.

A fringe right-wing group, Hindu Raksha Dal, has purportedly taken responsibility for the attack on JNU students in a video posted on social media.

The video, which was posted on social media on Monday and has gone viral since, shows a man identifying himself as Pinki Chaudhary saying that those who resort to "anti-national activities" will be treated in the same way that JNU students and faculty were. He later told news channels that others involved in "anti-national activities" will face similar attacks.

There was no immediate reaction from the police on Chaudhury's claims.

"For several years, JNU has been a bastion of communists and we will not tolerate it. Hindu Raksha Dal, Bhupendra Tomar, Pinki Chaudhury take the responsibility of what has happened in JNU...all of them were our volunteers. Those who cannot do such work for Mother India don't have the right to live in this country," Chaudhary was seen as saying in the video.

"We are always ready to sacrifice our lives for Mother India. We will not tolerate anyone who speaks against the religion," he added.  Efforts to reach out to Chaudhary were unsuccessful with his phone switched off.

More than 35 students were injured on Sunday when a masked mob went on the rampage, attacking students and professors and vandalising property.

The JNUSU has accused the RSS-affiliated ABVP volunteers of attacking the students.

Several teams of the Forensic Science Laboratory arrived at the Jawaharlal Nehru University on Tuesday to collect evidence in connection with the violence in the varsity campus that injured 34 people, sources said.

Teams from Physics, Chemistry and Biology divisions of the FSL were in the university, they said.

The Physics team will collect evidence such as rods and stones used by the masked mob to attack students and teachers at the university, while the Chemistry team will collect samples of chemicals, if there are any. The biology team will collect DNA samples, among other evidence.

A team of photo experts from the FSL was also present at the campus.

Delhi Police has requested the FSL to also send a computer forensics team to analyse CCTV footage and it is likely to visit the university on Wednesday, according to the sources.

On Sunday, a mob of masked young people stormed the JNU campus in south Delhi and systematically targeted students in three hostels, unleashing mayhem with sticks, stones and iron rods, hitting inmates and breaking windows, furniture and personal belongings. They also attacked a women's hostel Security has been strengthened in the campus following the violence. Police personnel in large numbers are present on various gates of the university to ensure that no untoward incident takes place.

Police has barricaded the gates and only visitors with valid id cards are being allowed entry.

An FIR has been registered against unidentified people in connection with the violence and the Crime Branch is probing the incident.

The Crime Branch, along with the local police team, had visited the campus on Monday to collect evidence, including CCTV footage.

The agency is rigorously scanning all CCTV footage of the incident and also the video clips uploaded on social media and circulated on WhatsApp, according to police.

Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone joined students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in their protest against an attack by a masked mob on Sunday night.

The movie Chhapaak, about an acid attack survivor, starring Padukone is set to release on Jan. 10, 2020.