Masked Goons Stir Violence In JNU: Attack Students, Teachers and Campus Residents

On Sunday night of 5th December, a group of masked miscreants charged a heavy attack on the students and teachers at JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) with wooden and metal rods. The attackers also damaged the campus property heavily. 

This terrifying attack went on for three hours and left 34 injured. All the injured were admitted to AIIMS for treatment. Eyewitnesses and also the victims stated that there were about 100 miscreants who were outsiders. People belonging from this unidentified mob were roaming around dragging with them hockey sticks and rods. The JNUSU (JNU Student Union) alleged that the masked men were ABVP ‘goons’.

The ABVP (RSS Student Body) however, turned down this allegation and pointed towards the left outfits for the attack. 

The attack took place at 6:30 pm when a peaceful march held by the JNU Teachers’ Association on the campus was about to end. Given the violence that erupted post 6:30 pm, the police were informed, who reached the campus at around 7:30 pm. As stated in the Indian Express, the teachers had carried out a peace march a day after a conflict between the left outfits and ABVP has taken place, to ensure students maintain calm. The JNU, in the past few months, was experiencing a series of protests over issues like the hike in the hostel fees. However, the exact reason for such a sudden, shocking and shattering attack still remains unrecognised. 

There were a total of 700 policemen on duty for bringing the situation under control. To our worst fears though, the people reported that these policemen simply watched the goons threatening, manhandling and assaulting the people. These ‘unidentified’ masked men did not just attack the campus but also entered 7 hostels and broke into doors, shattered glass windows, pelted large-sized stones at the hostel residents, and beat them with rods. 

The goons were also heard chanting slogans “Na Moawad, Na Naxalwan, Sabse Bada Rastrawad”. Such brutal were these miscreants that they were blocking the way of ambulances who had come to pick up the injured. They also punctured the tyres of these ambulances to prevent them from getting out of the campus. 

The violence that erupted on a Sunday evening attracted reactions from across the country. Actors and celebrities like Swara Bhaskar, Mallika Dua, Rajkumar Roa, Sonam Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Ritiesh Deshmukh, Shabana Azmi, Taapsee Pannu, among others strongly condemned this brutal act and has demanded the apt legal actions be taken against these goons. 

Other states like Maharashtra, Hyderabad and Punjab spoke up in support of the JNU students. The youth of 

National political leaders which include P Chidambaram, Mamta Banerjee, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Arvind Kejriwal, S Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Amit Shah, too condemned the act. Nevertheless, the government servants who swore to uphold democracy and protect the citizens should not just merely ‘condemn’ the act but restore the much-needed justice and end the war it has called upon in its own nation with its own countrymen.