Masked men unleash violence on JNU campus, police stage flag march; Oppn blames govt

Violence broke out at Jawaharlal Nehru University on Sunday night as masked men armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus, prompting the administration to call in police which conducted a flag march.

At least 28 people, including JNU Students' Union president Aishe Ghosh, were injured as chaos reigned on the campus for nearly two hours.

Eyewitnesses alleged the attackers entered the premises when a meeting was being held by JNU Teachers' Association on the issue of violence on campus and assaulted students and professors. They also barged into three hostels. Video footage aired by some TV channels showed a group of men, who were brandishing hockey sticks and rods, moving around a building.

The Left-controlled JNUSU and the RSS-backed ABVP blamed each other for the incident.

The violence at the university, whose students have been actively supporting the stir against the amended Citizenship Act, triggered a political furore with opposition parties accusing "those in power" of trying to scuttle the voice of students, while protests broke out near Delhi Police headquarters and at the Aligarh Muslim University against the incident.

Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank condemned the violence and appealed for peace on the campus. A ministry official said anarchy will not be tolerated and a report has been sought from JNU administration on the incident.

Senior Union ministers and JNU alumni S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman too condemned the violence. Sitharaman said the pictures of violence were horrifying and asserted that the government wants universities to be safe spaces for all students.

Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Delhi Police chief Amulya Patnaik and the ministry has sought a report from him.

Sources said the violence started around 5 PM near Sabarmati tea point in the campus, where there had been minor clashes over the issue of semester registration under the revised rules.

The JNU administration said "masked miscreants armed with sticks were roaming around, damaging property and attacking people" and that police had been called in to maintain law and order. "