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“For the past 68 days, there has been a movement in JNU against fee hike. The administration has tried to break this movement, but has been unsuccessful. This time they have colluded with ABVP to spread violence,” said JNUSU General Secretary Satish Yadav.
Narrating the events over the past two days which led to violence in the campus on 5 January, Sunday, Yadav said that students who were marching peacefully to the T-point were attacked with stones by ABVP students. This happened while the students were passing the Periyar hostel in the campus, he said.
“Along with students we were about to reach the T-point, when the march passed the Periyar hostel there were ABVP students on the roof who started pelting us with stones. Students were injured on their heads and the march dispersed. These students were admitted in a hospital and some students joined a meeting, as you can see, behind me. We appeal that the atmosphere in JNU should remain peaceful.”
In a video being circulated online, JNUSU’s President Aishe Ghosh, with blood running down her face, can be heard saying, “I've been brutally attacked by goons who were masked, I have been bleeding... I am not in a condition to talk.”
Warning: Distressing visuals
Sai Balaji, former JNUSU President, said, “ABVP has been attacking students who are peacefully protesting against massive fee hike in JNU. Yesterday, a mob led by Ritwik Raj who is councillor from SIS belonging to ABVP attacked students. Then they attacked JNUSU President and General Secretary Aishe and Satish and other students.”
Expressing anger against the JNU VC, Balaji alleged that the VC is not only shielding but also instigating violence through ABVP to disrupt peaceful protest of JNU students.
Pinjra Tod, a women's collective of students and alumni of colleges across Delhi, also stated on Twitter that there is “complete breakdown of normalcy at JNU and open stone pelting, beating of students with rod, lathis.”
Meanwhile, all JNU student leaders who have been leading the protests recently have been issued circulars that they can't register for their course this year, and 5 January is the last date for registration. Many students are reportedly also not registering so that the University considers bringing out changes in the fee hike.
Countering JNUSU’s claims, Durgesh, the college’s ABVP unit president, told IANS, “Around four to five hundred members of the left wing gathered around the Periyar hostel, vandalised the hostel and forcibly entered the hostel to thrash the ABVP activists inside.”
Durgesh also alleged that stones were hurled on students which caused severe head injuries to some of them.
“They hurled stones, used batons to thrash students inside,” he claimed.
JNU administration said that the students agitating over the hike in hostel fees “ransacked” the server room and “intimidated” the technical staff on Saturday, 4 January, hampering the semester registration process.
The university has been seeing a standoff between the students and the administration over hike in hostel fees for over 70 days. Students even boycotted exams in protest, prompting the administration to send question papers to students through WhatsApp and email, a move condemned by the union.
(With inputs from PTI, IANS)
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