On campus at night, dhaba debates, hushed queries and angry charges

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A few students could be seen huddled in small groups, engaged in deep conversations over cups of tea and cigarettes. They seemed to be discussing the same issue: what is happening in and to JNU?

At 9.30 pm, nearly half the seats at the 24×7 Dhaba were empty. A few students present sat together in small groups and discussed the events of the day.

“This isn’t right… this is scary. Why did they arrest Kanhaiya of all people? I wonder if the police have my name too,” a worried student told his friends.

Sounds of sloganeering could be heard from a distance, and they seemed to be getting closer.

At Sabarmati Dhaba, close to the site where the protest was held, the same issue was being discussed and opinions were sharply divided. Two students kept a distance from the crowd and spoke in whispers.

“I am still trying to understand what happened. What was this programme they are talking about? Were you there,” asked one of them.
“Bahut hi kharab tha, Afzal Guru ko celebrate kar rahe the yeh log (It was really bad, they were celebrating Afzal Guru),” his friend replied. “But this is not the first time that has happened,” countered the first student.

A meeting at the JNUSU office, where students decided to hold a solidarity meeting the next day, ended at 12.30 am. Phone calls were made to inform others about the event.

Two students, who stood some distance away, spoke out against it. “People are shouting anti-India slogans, criticising our Bharat Mata and we are showing our solidarity,” said one of them. His friend agreed: “Aur nahi to kya, sab ke sab ko giraftar kar lena chahiye (all of them should be arrested).”

Later in the night, at Ganga Dhaba, several groups of students seemed busy in animated conversations; some looked serious, others not so much.

A group of students were busy catching up on comments and reactions on social media. “Aaj baat saaf ho gayi hai ki JNU deshdrohiyon ka gadh hai (It is clear now that JNU harbours anti-nationals)” read out one of them, as the others cringed.

“I am so sick of this term ‘anti-national’. They think they are the only ones who are national and everyone is anti-national,” said a student.