Amit Shah asks Delhi LG Baijal to hold talks with JNU representatives after violence

A day after the brutal violence unleashed on the students inside the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday night, in the presence of Delhi Police, Home Minister Amit Shah has now asked the Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to meet with the representatives from the university and hold talks with them, according to ANI sources. The Secretary of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has also called the Registrar, Proctor, and Rector of JNU to his office on Monday. 

After speaking to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik about the situation at JNU, Home Minister Amit Shah ordered an inquiry by a senior police officer. The Home Ministry further sought a report from the Delhi Police about the situation prevailing in the prestigious institution and the steps taken to restore peace. The Home Minister's office tweeted, "Union Home Minister has spoken to Delhi police commissioner over JNU violence and instructed him to take necessary action."  "The honourable minister has also ordered an inquiry to be carried out by a joint CP-level officer and asked for a report as soon as possible," it said. 

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Meanwhile, an FIR has been registered at Vasant Kunj North Police Station pertaining to the violence and the 34 students who were admitted to the hospital on Sunday night have been discharged.  On Sunday evening, over 18 students of the university, including the JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh was injured by the attacks and taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, after a masked mob barged inside the University campus and attacked the students as well as the professors with sticks and rods. The JNU administration and political leaders, cutting across political lines, had condemned the attack on students and urged the police to take action against the perpetrators.

However, ABVP and JNUSU resorted to blame-game after chaos reigned on the campus for nearly two hours on Sunday night.  JNUSU alleged that the members of the ABVP, with their faces masked, were moving in the campus with rods, lathis and hammers and thrashing students. Videos doing the rounds on social media have also alleged that ABVP unleashed the violence within the campus, amid the presence of Delhi Police. Members of the Left-backed student groups claimed that people from the outside were permitted to barge on the campus. 

There was a massive deployment of security personnel in and around the campus after the violence and the entrance gates were closed. The students' union alleged its members, including Ghosh, were injured in stone-pelting by ABVP members. The JNUSU claimed, "ABVP members wearing masks were moving around on the campus with lathis, rods, and hammers". "They are pelting bricks...getting into hostels and beating up students. Several teachers have also been beaten up."

JNU violence 

Violence broke out at Jawaharlal Nehru University on Sunday night as masked men armed with sticks and rods 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 as chaos reigned on the campus for nearly two hours.

Eyewitnesses alleged the attackers entered the premises when a meeting was being held by JNU Teachers' Association on the issue of violence on campus and assaulted students and professors. They also barged into three hostels. Video footage aired by some TV channels showed a group of men, who were brandishing hockey sticks and rods, moving around a building. The Left-controlled JNUSU and the RSS-backed ABVP blamed each other for the incident.

Senior Union ministers and JNU alumni S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman too condemned the violence. Sitharaman said the pictures of violence were horrifying and asserted that the government wants universities to be safe spaces for all students. Amid allegations of delayed action, Delhi Police said it conducted a flag march and the situation was brought under control after it got a written request from the JNU administration to enter the campus. It, however, did not say if any arrests had been made.

(with agency inputs) 

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