‘No place for labs of hate’: How a protest in JNU turned controversial

Back in 2016, Delhi’s famed Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) found itself at the forefront of every news channel, newspaper, and news website when a bunch of students gathered to protest the capital punishment meted out to 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Many alleged that the participants of this protest began yelling anti-India chants, with one purported video showing them shouting anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans. Eventually, this led to the arrest of the students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar and two others.

Now, 10 years later, a similar script is being played out with students facing expulsion over their controversial sloganeering against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

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What’s exactly going on? Why has JNU once again found itself embroiled in a controversy? We get you all the answers.

The JNU protest at the centre of it all

On Monday night, students responding to a protest call given at ‘Guerilla Dhaba’, congregated and reportedly raised provocative slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Videos that have since gone viral show the JNU students raising slogans against Modi and Shah.

The sloganeering, interestingly, came on the same day when the Supreme Court denied bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, both JNU alums, in the 2020 Delhi riots “conspiracy” case. Notably, Khalid was among those at the centre of the 2016 controversy too.

However, the JNU Students Union (JNUSU) has clarified that the protest was called to mark six years of the attack at the campus. On January 5, 2020, a group of masked individuals entered the JNU campus and assaulted students and faculty members, leaving several injured. The incident occurred amid ongoing protests at the university over fee hikes and changes to admission policies.

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In a statement, the JNUSU said, “On January 5, 2020, armed masked goons invaded the JNU campus and attacked students and teachers in the Sabarmati Hostel and other areas. This was no “clash” but an open assault on a community that was peacefully resisting a massive fee hike, while the police stood as spectators. Six years have passed since that night of terror.

“Where is Komal Sharma and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) goons who accepted planning and executing the attack on national television? The Delhi Police — which displays an extraordinary efficiency in filing FIRs against JNUSU office bearers for even the smallest acts of democratic resistance — has failed to make a single arrest in the 5 January case,” it added.

Moreover, JNUSU president Aditi Mishra said that every year, students hold a protest to condemn the violence that happened on the campus on January 5, 2020. “All of the slogans raised in the protest were ideological and do not attack anyone personally. They were not directed towards anyone,” Mishra told news agency PTI.

However, the ABVP states that the protests raised slogans against the State as well as the Supreme Court. Moreover, slogans called for the ‘digging of graves’ of PM Modi as well as Home Minister Amit Shah.

JNU administration steps in

As the protests snowballed into a larger political row, the JNU administration stepped in, vowing to take the strictest action against the students found raising objectionable slogans against the prime minister and the home minister. In a statement on X, the administration said: “Universities are centres for innovation and new ideas, and they cannot be permitted to be converted into laboratories of hate.”

In a second post on X, the administration added, “But any form of violence, unlawful conduct or anti-national activity will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Students involved in this incident will also face disciplinary measures including immediate suspension, expulsion and permanent debarment from the University.”

The JNU authorities have also filed a police complaint at the Vasant Kunj police station about the incident. The complaint stated that certain students raised “highly objectionable, provocative and inflammatory” slogans at an event on Monday that were in direct contempt of the Supreme Court and reflected a “wilful disrespect for constitutional institutions and established norms of civil and democratic discourse”.

A senior police official has now said that a probe has been launched following the complaint, adding that they will examine CCTV footage and videos of the event.

A political battle breaks out

However, the sloganeering at the protest in JNU has become a larger issue with political parties taking sides in the matter.

Senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said the group was venting their frustration against the PM, the Home Minister after Umar and Sharjeel were denied bail by the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Union Minister Giriraj Singh alleged that the campus has turned into a “den” of those who want to “break the country”.

Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra also added that the slogans reflected frustration after court verdicts. He said, “Some people raise slogans against the nation, religion, verdict of Supreme Court, in support of Afzal Guru, terrorists, naxals… The naxals, terrorists are being eliminated and those who conspired against Delhi, the Supreme Court has announced its verdict on it, so this is just their frustration…”

Meanwhile, the Congress alleged that it was the ruling party that was behind the controversial slogans. Udit Raj, a leader, even said that it was a way of expressing resentment. “It is a way of registering protest. It is political language, it should not be taken literally. There is anger in the JNU because they (Khalid and Imam) are being treated the way they are because they are Muslims. Injustice has been done to them and the Supreme Court order has been unfortunate,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

It’s to be seen what comes next, but one thing is clear: the anti-national charge against the university is here to stay.

With inputs from agencies