JNUSU accuses Delhi Police and varsity administration of shielding ABVP, counters claims that servers were damaged

The Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union on Saturday alleged that the Delhi Police was informed about a mob’s presence inside the campus much before the violence on 5 January but the cops ignored the messages. The students union also accused the Delhi Police of furthering the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) version of events. [caption id=“attachment_7893821” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh addressing press conference along with the union office bearers. ANI[/caption] Addressing a press conference at the Sabarmati Lawns in the JNU campus, Aishe Ghosh, who was was among the 35 students and teachers injured in an attack by a masked group, claimed that security guards were unavailable on 4 January. “Security guards were not available the entire time,” said Aishe Ghosh. “Plainclothes police have been present on campus since 1 December, as requested by the administration. Why did the police in civil clothes not have any information regarding the attack?” she asked. The students union leader also alleged that the police had failed to respond to their messages.“The police was informed at 3 pm and the messages were read at 3.07 pm but the messages were ignored,” the students union alleged, said a PTI report. Saket Moon, JNUSU vice president, added the attack on 5 January was planned. “At around 4.30 pm, ABVP activists, also from Delhi University, began entering the campus. Professors associated with the RSS were also involved. The activists began entering the university through various gates and this has been recorded on camera,” he claimed. Students union leader Md Danish alleged that the masked attackers then started pelting stones, following which students entered the Sabarmati Hostel. The attackers selectively targeted students, he further claimed.

“Attackers targeted specific rooms in the Sabarmati Hostel and even threw students from the balcony, but did not touch the room of an ABVP activist,” added representatives of the union, said a PTI report.

The students’ union also said that the ABVP members had hit women students even on 4 January and when JNUSU general secretary Satish Chandra Yadav had intervened, they had attacked him as well. JNUSU general secretary Satish Chandra Yadav alleged that the administration and the police are shielding the ABVP members. “In any investigation, the press conference is always held after the conclusion of the investigation. However, in this case, the police held a press conference while the investigation is still underway because the ABVP was getting exposed. Hence the police held a press conference to save the ABVP and named Left-affiliated organisations instead. But not once did they name the ABVP,” he said. The student body also questioned the authenticity of the ‘viral’ videos and pictures being used by the Delhi Police as evidence. The Delhi Police had on Friday released pictures of nine suspects in the JNU violence case and claimed that Ghosh, a member of the Students’ Federation of India, was one of them. Ghosh countered the university administration's claims that the university servers were damaged to prevent students from registering for the new semester and claimed that the registration process had continued even on 5 January. “The administration is claiming that the servers were damaged by the students on 4 January. They are also saying that the CCTV footage could not be accessed because the servers were down. But registrations were taking place on 4 Jan. If not, how did I receive a mail from server communications on 5 January?” she said. The students’ union also addressed the issue of the hostel fee hike, with Ghosh asserting that she will not pay the increased hostel fees. “We will never pay hostel fees and will continue fighting,” said Ghosh, adding that students would pay the academic registration fees of Rs 120. She also said the JNUSU condemn the hostel audit being conducted by the administration and urged the elected representative of hostels and students to boycott any such checking of hostels without their permission. Earlier in the day, the JNU administration had announced that the varsity has undertaken a security audit of hostels to check the stay of outsiders and unauthorised students, as advised by the Delhi Police on 7 January. Ghosh also lashed out at JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, accusing him of not communicating with the students nor visiting the campus while the attack was underway. “Servers are more important to you than the safety of your students,” she said in a reference to Kumar. There is no question of co-operating with the VC, asserted Ghosh while calling for his resignation. “Sacking the vice-chancellor is the only option,” she said. Following the press conference, the union released a chronology of events which took place on 4 and 5 January on its Twitter handle.

The JNUSU also released two videos supporting their version of events. However, Firstpost has not been able to independently verify their authenticity.

On 5 January, a group of masked men and women stormed the campus and targeted students in three hostels, unleashing mayhem with sticks, stones and iron rods by hitting inmates and breaking windows, furniture and personal belongings. At least 35 students, teachers and staff were injured in the violence. With inputs from PTI