Scuffle at JNU as ABVP, Left members clash; 3 students injured

A video of the purported incident shows a man thrashing students with a stick; another clip shows a person throwing a bicycle at students. Other purported videos showed individuals being mobbed and beaten up by a group even as JNU security personnel tried to rescue them.

#WATCH | Delhi | A clash broke out between ABVP and Left-backed student groups at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), last night. The ruckus was reportedly over the selection of election committee members at the School of Languages.

(Video Source: JNU students)
(Note: Abusive… pic.twitter.com/BfpFlhUM2T

— ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2024

Both groups issued statements on Friday, blaming the other for the violence.

Hitting out at the ABVP, AISA said in its statement, “The last day of the GBM at the School of Languages witnessed another round of violence by ABVP goons. Initially attempting to disrupt the selection process for the election committee, the ABVP resorted to physical violence against students when thwarted by JNU students… were seen wielding rods and targeting and beating common students indiscriminately.”

AISA also accused the ABVP of singling out Muslim students. “They opposed whenever any Muslim student propose their names for upcoming election committee. They also vitiated the atmosphere of school GBM premises by threatening students, by sexist and casteist slurs,” AISA added.

The ABVP in its statement on “a disturbing incident” named several individuals, including Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh, and blamed them for “unleashing a wave of violence”. “The group launched a vicious attack on students affiliated with the Bachelors and Masters programs at the School of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies. The assailants, reportedly associated with Ghosh and her cohorts, unleashed a wave of violence against the students, demonstrating an appalling disregard for human safety and dignity. Shockingly, even physically handicapped students were not spared from the brutality inflicted upon them,” the ABVP statement said.

A similar clash took place last month during a general body meeting at the varsity.

The JNUSU elections, which have not been held for the last four years, are scheduled to take place in March — the first students’ union polls after 2019.

In a notification in January 2024, the university had said, “This is to bring to the kind notice of all concerned that the JNU students’ union elections 2023-24 will be held between six and eight weeks, after the commencement of the academic session for PhD students i.e February 2, 2024.”