Arch rivals join together against Traitors in JNU

Pitched battle over ‘people’s war’ at JNU
Manash Pratim Gohain, Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University campus became a battleground on Friday night when members of disparate student organizations clashed over what was seen as an attempt to support the Naxalites and ‘celebrate’ the massacre of 76 CRPF men.

The National Students Union of India (NSUI), Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Pari-shad (ABVP) and Youth for Equality (YFE) came together to allege that a campus function by the JNU Forum Against War on People was used by Maoist supporters to celebrate the Dantewada killings. But the organizers said the meeting was only meant to oppose Operation Green Hunt launched by the government.

The NSUI national general secretary, Shaikh Shahnawaz, recalled: “Members of Democratic Students Union (DSU) and All India Students Association (AISA) organized a meeting to celebrate the killing of 76 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh. They were even shouting slogans like ‘India murdabad, Maovad zindabad’. How can this be allowed inside a Central university?”

To oppose the holding of the function, NSUI and ABVP activists took out a march to the venue where a clash broke out among the students. “How can an administration let anti-India activities take place? Such organizations which celebrate the death of security personnel should be banned, just like SIMI was,” said a PhD scholar from Tapti Hostel, Bharat Kumar.

The university administration said no permission had been taken to organise the meeting. Condemning the incident, vice-chancellor B B Bhattacharya said: “By organizing such a meeting at this point of time when the nation has lost 76 precious lives is very insensitive on their part. Moreover, they have not taken any permission, which is a typical JNU attitude of defying rules just for the sake of it. Now that they managed to get the desired provocation, the campus will see a series of ritualistic protests to seek media attention, which is unfortunate. A few students and our security received minor bruises.”

Samar Pandey, a member of the JNU Forum Against War On People, said that permission had been taken for the meeting. “NSUI and ABVP students tried to disrupt the meeting against ‘Operation Green Hunt’ and misbehaved. We took permission and pasted our pamphlets,” he said.

Interestingly, this issue has brought together arch-rivals ABVP and NSUI against DSU and AISA while Students Federation of India (SFI) is seen taking a neutral stand though a few of its activists were spotted with the ABVP-NSUI alliance. YFE has been carrying out a candlelight vigil since the Dantewada day to salute the martyrs while NSUI and ABVP will now observe an anti-Naxal week on the campus.

Meanwhile, the assistant dean of students, Sachidanand Sinha, said: “We will not allow peace on campus to be disrupted. We will take suitable action on Monday.”

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