Left wing students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Thursday (October 3) staged a protest to oppose a lecture programme of Union Minister Jitendra Singh over revoking of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
The situation turned unruly after RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) students staged a counter-protest on the campus with slogans like “Kashmir se Kanyakumari, Bharat Mata ek Hamari”.
The JNU had organised a talk on “Abrogation of Article 370: Peace, Stability and Development in Jammu, Kashmir” Ladakh” in which Singh, a senior leader from Jammu and Kashmir, was invited to deliver a lecture.
#WATCH: Scuffle broke out between two groups of students during a seminar on #Article370 at Jawaharlal Nehru University campus in Delhi, today. Union Minister Jitendra Singh was speaking at the seminar. pic.twitter.com/KOLU18Cyo7
— ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2019
To protest against Singh’s presence, students linked to the All India Students’ Association (AISA), a left-wing student organisation, raised slogans against the central government for its August 5 decision to scrap special status of Jammu and Kashmir granted under Article 370.
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Soon after the AISA students gathered outside the Convention Centre of the university raising slogans, several student supporters of ABVP reached there and began counter-protest, leading to heckling and manhandling by rival groups.
The government has come under severe criticism over its move to abrogate the special status of Jammu and Kashmir given under Article 370 of the Constitution. Strict restrictions were imposed in the state during the move and it has been gradually eased in several parts.
(With inputs from agencies.)
