Delhi Police register FIR over alleged inflammatory slogans in JNU viral video

New Delhi, Jan 7 Delhi Police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) in connection with a video that went viral on social media, allegedly showing students raising provocative slogans on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus, sources said on Wednesday.

According to sources, the FIR has been registered under Sections 352 and 353 of the Indian Penal Code, relating to assault and use of criminal force, and actions allegedly impacting public order. The case has been taken up after a preliminary examination of the video content and complaints received in the matter.

The video, which surfaced online earlier this week, purportedly shows a group of students associated with Left-leaning organisations raising slogans during a campus gathering.

The slogans, as per police assessment, were considered inflammatory in nature and capable of disturbing public peace.

The slogans allegedly contained references directed at the country's political leadership in an objectionable manner.

The slogans were allegedly raised following a campus protest linked to the continued judicial custody of former JNU students Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid, both of whom are accused in separate cases and have been seeking bail.

The protest escalated into the use of provocative language, which subsequently became the subject of the viral video.

Several Left-wing student organisations at JNU raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a gathering at the 'Guerrilla Dhaba' on the university campus.

The incident took place on Monday evening, shortly after the Supreme Court denied bail to former JNU students Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots case.

Around 30 to 40 students affiliated with the Democratic Students' Federation (DSF), the All India Students' Association (AISA) and the Students' Federation of India (SFI) staged a protest, raising anti-government slogans at the campus.

The sloganeering drew a sharp reaction from the BJP, which condemned the Left-wing groups and linked the protest to the denial of bail to Khalid and Imam.

BJP leaders described the protesters as part of what they termed the "tukde ecosystem" and labelled them "urban Naxals".

Taking to X, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, "These slogans chanted by the Tukde ecosystem in JNU after Sharjeel Umar denied bail. This is an anti-India bunch of Urban Naxals... Votebank ke naam par Umar Sharjeel Bachao Gang kaam par."

Another BJP national spokesperson, Pradeep Bhandari, also condemned the incident through a social media post.

"Urban Naxals in support of anti-national Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam protested late at night in JNU outside Sabarmati Hostel. This is not a protest; this is appropriation of anti-India thought! Intellectual terrorists can be academics, doctors, or engineers," he said in a post on X.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh said, "JNU has become a hub of the so-called 'tukde-tukde' gang, involving Rahul Gandhi, the TMC, Left parties, and other opposition forces. It has turned into a camp office of this group, and the country will not tolerate it."

The case has once again brought JNU into the spotlight over issues related to campus protests and political expression.

--IANS

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