Varsities from UK to Chennai throw weight behind JNU students

A day after more than 100 unidentified goons entered the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and attacked the students and professors using iron rods and other weapons on Sunday (January 5), protests erupted across the country and in some parts of the world.

At least 28 people, including JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh, were injured as chaos reigned on the campus for nearly two hours. The Left-controlled JNUSU and the RSS-affiliated ABVP have blamed each other for the violence.

Within the country, students from across different institutions, including Jadavpur University, Kolkata; Aligarh Muslim University (AMU); Pondicherry University, Bangalore University, and the University of Hyderabad (UoH) organised protests to condemn the attack on JNU students.

Meanwhile, students from London’s Oxford University and New York’s Columbia University too held protests in solidarity with the students of JNU.

Jadavpur University

Police resorted to baton-charging supporters of the Left-wing and the BJP after they engaged in a brawl in Kolkata’s Jadavpur area during rallies over the violence that rocked the JNU campus in Delhi on Monday (January 6).

Students of the Jadavpur University, activists of the SFI, and members of other Left outfits took out a rally against the violence in JNU. The BJP too held a march against the attack on JNU students as well as the ransacking of its party office in the area on Sunday (January 5) night.

The left outfits and the BJP came face-to-face at Sulekha More, leading to a brawl. SFI activists claimed that the BJP workers used expletives against women activists. The Left cadres, in return, burnt flags of the BJP.

The police had put up barricades and blocked both the rallies, initially. However, after repeated attempts to bring the situation under control, officials said that police baton-charged the activists to disperse them.

Aligarh Muslim University

Hundreds of students from the AMU took out a rally on Monday on the varsity campus after holding a Tiranga march from Purani Changi to Babey Sir Syed Gate to protest against the violence in JNU.

The protesters handed over a memorandum addressed to President of India, to the district authorities in Aligarh. They demanded in the memorandum that ‘immediate punishment should be given to those responsible for the attack on JNU students and teachers.’

They also urged the President of India to ensure that no attempt was made by the government to crush the citizens’ fundamental right to hold peaceful protests against any issue.

The students held a demonstration and a candlelight march on Sunday evening too as soon as they got wind of the attack on students at JNU.

The Aligarh Muslim University Teacher’s Association (AMUTA) said in a statement, “On behalf of teaching community and AMU fraternity, Aligarh Muslim University Teacher’s Association expresses its shock and vehemently condemns the barbaric act carried out by ABVP goons in presence of mute police against JNU students and teachers and stands in solidarity with JNUSU and JNUTA.”

In Tamil Nadu

In Tamil Nadu, protests were organized at the IIT-Madras, Madras University, and at Valluvar Kottam.

Students of IIT-M assembled on the campus at 4:30 p.m. and took out a march from Gajendra Circle to Himalaya Lawn. They condemned the police inaction at JNU and said the violence on students were totally unacceptable. They said the ABVP was using violence as a tool to scare away the dissenters.

In Puducherry, the CPI(M)’s youth organization, the Democratic Students Federation of India (DYFI), organized a protest. The Student’s Federation of India (SFI) organized protests in all district headquarters in Tamil Nadu.

At 7:30 pm, the Movement Against CAA, which had recently shot to fame with the ‘kolam’ protest in Tamil Nadu, organized a candle-lit protest at Valluvar Kottam. The organizers said the universities of the country, which produced brilliant academics, scholars, and civil servants, cannot be the places for vandals to play out their political agenda.

The protest, which saw the participation of transgenders, artistes, and prominent citizens, was supposed to end at 8:30 pm. The protesters but refused to leave the spot even after the police asked them to. Deputy Commissioner of Police Dharmaraj, who was on the spot, said he too was a former student of the JNU and urged the protesters to disperse. Heeding to his calls, the protesters moved out of the venue. The organizers said they would assemble peacefully on Tuesday (January 7) at 3 p.m.

In Hyderabad

Expressing solidarity with the JNU students and teachers, the protesters comprising groups of students, teaching staff, and citizens staged demonstrations, raised slogans and took out rallies at Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), University of Hyderabad, Osmania University, and other locations.

Around 200 teaching, non-teaching staff, and students of MANUU led a peaceful procession to the main gate of the university, holding placards and raising slogans like, “Save students and teachers; save the university.” The family members of the staff also joined the march in large numbers.

Condemning the violence, a group of students under the aegis of the Progressive Democratic Students Union (PDSU) held a protest on the campus of Osmania University here and burned an effigy protesting against the ABVP. They raised slogans like “We want justice.”

Also read: Before JNU attacks, the hate-mongering that panned out on WhatsApp

Earlier, a group of students and citizens gathered near Ambedkar statue on Tank Bund after midnight on Sunday and raised slogans like ‘Students Fraternity Zindabaad’ and held placards that read ‘We are with you JNU.’ They raised slogans and held a candlelight protest and later dispersed, a senior police official said. The protesters also raised slogans against the Narendra Modi government over the CAA.

Similarly, a group of students under the banner of “HCU (Hyderabad Central University) Students Union” also protested against the violence in JNU. They took out a rally late on Sunday night on the campus of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) here condemning the ‘brutal attack on JNU students’ and blamed the ABVP for the violence and demanded the arrest of the culprits.

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A)

Over 100 people, including college students, activists and citizens, held a peaceful protest outside the IIM-A campus on Monday to condemn the violence against JNU students.

The protesters were holding banners having slogans like, ‘JNU is bleeding,’ ‘Saffron is new black,’ ‘Stop Brahminical Terrorism,’ ‘Save JNU,’ ‘With JNU – Against Fascism,’ ‘Save Students-Save Democracy.’

Students from various prominent institutes, including the CEPT University, Ahmedabad University, National Institute of Fashion Technology, National Institute of Design, and Gujarat Vidyapith later joined the protest march.

Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune

Students from the FTII staged a protest in Pune on Sunday at midnight, which continued on Monday, against the violence at JNU.

The students carried ‘mashals’ (fire torches) and shouted slogans, expressing solidarity with the JNU students. They held a demonstration outside the campus gate, holding banners with messages like, “FTII stands with JNU, condemns the violence of ABVP Goons.”

Later, students from other universities in Pune too joined the protests.

Yuvak Kranti Dal, a local youth organisation held protests outside the district collectorate and at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) on Monday evening. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) too staged a protest at SPPU on Monday.

Other organizations like Rashtra Seva Dal, Navjawan Bharat Sabha, and Swaraj Abhiyan too held demonstrations of their own to condemn the violence.

Mumbai:

Students from various colleges in Mumbai, including IIT-Bombay, gathered at the Gateway of India on midnight Sunday.

IIT-Bombay students said in a statement, “Such an act of terror has no place in any civilised world, least of all in the sphere of learning. We, IIT Bombay for Justice would like to extend full support and solidarity with faculty and students of JNU who have been subjected to unprecedented violence and terror in the evening of 5th January 2020 at the hands of hooded-armed mobs.”

The members of IIT Bombay for Justice also expressed concern for the safety of students in university campuses as in the recent past they’ve been turning into sites for violence. “The thought that we could very easily have been in their place haunts our minds. We condemn this dastardly act on the most severe terms possible,” they said.

Bhubaneshwar:

Activists of Left parties and members of students’ outfits hit the streets in the state capital on Monday to protest against the attack on JNU students.

The demonstrators took out rallies in various parts of the city holding placards and banners which read “Stop hooliganism in JNU” and “Save democracy”.

They also raised slogans against the BJP-led government at the Centre for its “failure to protect the students and teachers of the university from masked miscreants.”

Several protesters, including members of students unions, demanded that the perpetrators should be punished without delay. A leader of the All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO), which took out a march near Rama Devi Women’s University, said that those involved in the attack should be immediately put behind bars.