Tensions flared on the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) after student groups aligned with the Left and Right accused each other of violence during a protest march in the early hours of Monday, February 23. According to the news agency IANS, at least 14 students were injured in an alleged stone-throwing incident at JNU. The injured were admitted to Safdarjung Hospital’s emergency ward.
JNU Media Convenor Vijay Jaiswal accused left-wing groups of the attack, who had been sitting on a protest for the last 7 to 8 days. He said they marched from Sabarmati T-Point to the VC Gate with the specific plan of targeting ABVP members. While normal students were going about their activities in the school area, the attackers forcibly engaged them, and then specifically targeted ABVP students,” Jaiswal said.
According to students, the alleged incident took place at around 1.30 am on Monday, where several students got injured in an alleged stone pelting after a scuffle broke out among students.
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Vice President of the ABVP JNU Unit, Manish Choudhary said, “Last night, a group staged protests over the restrictions imposed at JNU and even called for a sit-in at the VC’s residence. Normally, any protest notice should be given 48 hours in advance, which did not happen. They came to the campus, and since regular students were not participating in their protest, they decided to play the victim card.”
According to the statement, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) had called for a "Samta Juloos" towards the East Gate, demanding the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit and the revocation of a rustication order. Protesters alleged the administration did not engage with the march and instead allowed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members to confront them.
However, ABVP rejected the allegations and accused Left-backed organisations of provoking clashes and spreading misinformation about the incident.
ABVP student Prateek Bhardwaj said, "The Vice-Chancellor uses a CPO manual to define rules and disciplines in the university. Under this, when the left-wing students were restricted which has also been captured on video five people in total were restricted. After this restriction, they turned the matter into a purely political issue."
Left-backed groups, including All India Students' Association (AISA), claimed ABVP activists pelted stones at the JNUSU encampment and attacked "unarmed students," leaving several injured.
According to the purported videos shared by several students caught in the standoff, there were scenes of confusion and fear in the campus as rival groups traded violence near the protest site.