We were in the Patiala House court waiting for Kanhaiya Kumar, president of Jawaharlal Nehru Students Union (JNUSU) to be produced in court when everything suddenly went wrong.
I was speaking to Lovleen, a staffer in the court of the Metropolitan Magistrate when I heard someone sprint screaming:
People from JNU are here! Throw them out, throw them out!
In retrospect, it seems that others were waiting for this signal.
A bunch of lawyers told everyone from Jawaharlal Nehru University to leave the courtroom, although they gave no reason for their conduct.
Sensing that things were getting ugly, some JNU professors decided to leave. As they were doing so, some lawyers got into a scuffle with them. It was then that I sensed something was seriously amiss.
That is when someone who was in a lawyer’s attire turned his attention towards me and asked me to get out. I decided to obey.
But as I was leaving, I heard someone (I did not see who) shout, “Yeh kaun hai?” (Who is he?)
The next moment, someone shoved me. Before I could recover, I was slapped and then again slapped.
I just couldn’t understand what was going on. There was no provocation, nothing to deserve all of this.
Fortunately for me, a few lawyers at the spot recognized me and came to my rescue. They dragged me out and took me towards Gate No 2 of the Patiala House Court.
The situation there was far worse. Several journalists had been attacked there, including my former colleague and now Indian Express reporter, Alok Singh.
Alok Singh told me that he and a group of journalists were standing outside the courtroom when some lawyers pounced on the JNU students there and began thrashing them.
As I started speaking to my chief reporter, the lawyers attacked me too. I kept telling them I was a journalist but they wouldn’t listen. They slapped me, they kicked me, they snatched my mobile and broke it. And I saw others also being attacked for no apparent reason.Alok Singh, Journalist
Amit Pandey of IBN7 and Manu Shankar of Kairali TV were among the journalists who were assaulted.
When Azaan Javaid from DNA showed his media credentials, he was accused of being a JNU student and flashing a fake media card.
Women journalists who were in the Metropolitan Magistrate’s room with me were threatened and asked to leave.
They were Ritika Jain from DNA, Ankita Upadhyaya of Pioneer, Sana Shakil from the Times of India and Sneha Agarwal of Mail Today.
Other journalists told me later that they saw OP Sharma, one of the three BJP legislators in Delhi, chase and attack a JNU student outside the court premises. Sharma kicked him even as the student fell on the road.
Surprisingly, despite all the mayhem, apart from escorting the JNU professors from the courtroom that I was in, the Delhi Police did nothing to restrain the rampaging lawyers.
As they indulged in violence, the lawyers kept shouting slogans like “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.
The violence happened before Kanhaiya Kumar, president of JNUSU, was to be brought before the court after being arrested on 9 February on sedition charges.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)