Taking a dig at the Delhi police for ignoring the alert messages sent by Aishe Ghosh, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) on Saturday (January 11) alleged that police were informed about the mobs presence on the campus much before the violence on January 5 began. The cops but ignored the messages, the JNUSU said.
The JNUSU told the media that, the police were informed soon after people welding sticks were noticed on the campus. The police read the messages at 3:07 pm but turned a blind eye to it, the JNUSU office-bearers said. It also alleged that the RSS-affiliated ABVP was involved in attacking women students and JNUSU office-bearers last week.
The students union said the ABVP members hit women students even on January 4 and when JNUSU general secretary Satish Chandra Yadav intervened, they attacked him as well. “Attackers targeted specific rooms in Sabarmati Hostel and even threw students from balcony, but did not touch the room of an ABVP activist,” they added.
Alleging that the press conference conducted by the Delhi police on Friday was bogus, the students said, it was like ABVP’s press conference.
“When we went to MHRD, they told that the VC came here and had a discussion and he is ready to roll back the hike hostel fee. We asked them to release a circular. They said that the circular will be released but the students also need to show their cooperation in the matter to resolve it,” they added.
“We want to show them that the students are taking first step and we are heading towards registration. But we will only pay tuition fee and the administration must roll back the hostel fee hike. If they will not roll it back, then the student union will tell the MHRD that the intention of the administration is not clear,” the student union said.
The JNU has undertaken a security audit of hostels to check stay of outsiders and unauthorised students, following the violence on the campus. The police on January 7 had requested the administration to do an audit of hostels for outsiders or unauthorised students.
“The MHRD and the Delhi High Court said that the vice chancellor should hold a meeting with JNUSU. We were also asking him for a formal meeting, but did not receive any call from the VC. Recently, a meeting was held by the VC and the JNUSU was not aware about it,” they said.
Describing the chronology of the events, the student union said the security personnel were not present in Sabarmati Hostel on January 4 and 5. On January 4 morning, when Ghosh and others rushed to School of Biotechnology after receiving calls, they too were manhandled and assaulted by security guards who switched the lights off, slapped Ghosh, and assaulted other students as well, they said.
On January 5, students gathered at 11 am onwards at School of Social Science building to protest against the fee hike, when ABVP members, led JNUTF faculty Tapan Bihar, Jaikhlong Basumataray and others, barged into the building and started attacking the students, they said. On January 5 at 3 pm, Ghosh, informed the Delhi Police, about the atmosphere of fear and terror inside campus, but police took no action.
Ghosh messaged Vasant Kunj (North) SHO Ritu Raj, Inspector Sanjeev Mandal and Joint Commissioner of Police Anand Mohan on WhatsApp at 3 pm regarding the violence inside the campus. The message was seen by the SHO at 3.07 pm and Ghosh also had a conversation with Mandal at 3.35 pm on telephone regarding it, the students union alleged.
The union also alleged that the mob entered Sabarmati and targeted the rooms deliberately. Police gypsy was present inside the campus around 5 pm, till the 6 pm, they said, adding that the goons kept thrashing students and police did not do anything. At 6.45 pm, the VC called the police to stay stationed at the North Gate and not come inside. This was when the attack had just begun on teachers and students at the peace gathering at T-point, they alleged.
At 8:39 pm and 8:43 pm when the campus was still reeling from the attack, the vice chancellor and JNU administration filed two FIRs against Ghosh and others. “The Delhi Police released its report to the press during the investigation and named Left parties. They did this because the ABVP was about to expose them. They didn’t take the name of ABVP and police are trying to save them,” the students union alleged.
In Jamia, they entered and thrashed students and here, they said that they didn’t have any permission to enter the campus, the union said. The Delhi police did not take action even outside the campus and when the mob was leaving the campus, police escorted them from exit gate safely, they said, adding that in a sting operation, Akshat said that they thrashed students after police switched off the street light. “This is not left versus right. This is right versus wrong. Why the administration is not showing the CCTV footage. We cant cooperate with this VC. Sacking of the VC is the only option,” JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh said.
(With inputs from agencies)