Over 100 college students, activists and citizens on Monday evening held a peaceful protest outside the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) to denounce the violence at the JNU campus in New Delhi.
Students from various prominent institutes, including the IIMA, Cept University, AhmedabadUniversity, National Institute of Fashion Technology, National Institute of Design and Gujarat Vidyapith took part in the protest by standing in a row on a footpath outside the top business school.
Violence broke out inside the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday night as masked men armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus.
At least 28 people, including JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh, were injured. The Left-backed JNUSU and the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) have blamed each other for the violence that continued for nearly two hours.
"We are against the brutality with which students are being treated. We also put tape on our mouth today to convey the message that people are not being allowed to speak freely.
"Students are being labeled for asking questions. Concerned citizens gathered by their own to register their protest" said Sarthak Bagchi, an assistant professor with the Ahmedabad university.
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Dalit activist and independent MLA Jignesh Mevani was among the protesters who demanded stern action against those involved in the attack on JNU students and teachers.
"The attack proved that miscreants have been given a free hand. They knew that the police and government belonged to them. I am confident these miscreants were sent by Home Minister Amit Shah. No one else except the RSS and the ABVP can do such things," claimed Mevani.
The protesters, surrounded by a large posse of police personnel, were holding banners with slogans like - "JNU is Bleeding", "Saffron is New Black", "Stop Brahminical Terrorism", "Save JNU", "With JNU - Against Fascism", "We Stand with JNU", "Stop Turning Campuses into War zones" and "Save Students-Save Democracy".
When prompted by Bagchi, a female protester holding a banner having a highly derogatory slogan about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took it down immediately.
While some students of the Gujarat Vidyapith, founded by Mahatma Gandhi, weaved khadi on their charkha as a mark of protest, other agitators chanted Faiz Ahmed Faiz's famous poem 'Hum dekhenge' which was the centre of a controversy recently at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur.
"The attack on students inside JNU shows the present government does not like people who do not agree with its policies. But, we all want to tell the students of JNU that entire country is with them.
"This is an attack on the soul of this country. We are the future of this country. Why are we being treated like enemies?" asked student agitators.
When the protest was on, some persons claiming to be associated with the ABVP gathered on the opposite side of the road and displayed banners alleging the JNU attack was planned and executed by 'Left-wing' students.
They waved banners having messages like "Left Attacks JNU" and "Red Terror on JNU".
As a precautionary measure, police detained four ABVP members, said police inspector H M Vyas.
"These youths did not had any permission to hold protest here. Thus, as a precautionary measure, we detained four ABVP members. We will release them later," said Vyas.
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