Eerie calm in JNU, no arrests yet

New Delhi: A day after the mob mayhem on students inside the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus, there was an uneasy calm in the campus that witnessed heavy deployment of security personnel and authorities only allowed those with valid ID cards inside.

Union Home minister Amit Shah had spoken to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik on Sunday, instructing him to take necessary action. Though the police have registered an FIR against unknown persons, they are yet to make any arrests.

Senior warden of Sabarmati hostel, R Meena, was forced to resign early on Monday morning after being blamed for security lapses at the hostel premises. Warden (recreation) of Sabarmati hostel was also forced to submit his resignation after facing students' wrath. A total of 34 students and teachers were injured after a group of masked men, wielding sticks, rods and sledgehammers, terrorised the varsity for close to three hours.

On Monday, a large section of JNU students and teachers made a human chain to observe protest. The students also organised a peaceful march from Sabarmati hostel to the North Gate demanding the sacking of Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh. The students also demanded a judicial inquiry which would reveal the identities of those who held the students of the university hostage for several hours, targeting them selectively. The police's role, which is under scanner for inaction inside and outside the campus during the violence, was criticised widely not only by the Opposition parties but also by eminent personalities, Bollywood celebrities, ruling party leaders on social media platforms.

JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, who had 16 stitches on her head during Sunday's attack, claimed that she had earlier informed the police about "unknown people gathering at the campus" hours before the violence broke out but there was "no intervention". The student leader also blamed the Vice-Chancellor for the attack, demanding his resignation. "At around 2:30 pm on Sunday, we had told the police that we were not feeling safe because several unknown people had gathered at the campus. But there was no intervention," the JNU student leader said after getting discharged from the AIIMS Trauma Centre on Monday.

The ABVP members, who are facing heat for their alleged involvement in the violence, termed it as a planned attack by the Left. "It was a well-planned conspiracy which shows the involvement of leaders of various political parties as they were seen outside the university campus minutes after the clash. How come these leaders were aware that something like this had happened and arrived so quickly? How come former JNUSU leader Umar Khalid was able to appear at the protest in Mumbai organised at the Gateway of India? He was aware of this protest, as well as the attack," they claimed.

They also countered the screenshots that are doing the rounds. "Fake screenshots of masked men are being widely circulated from WhatsApp groups claiming to have ABVP affiliations. Such malicious insinuations betray the Left's own desperation. Such mischief must be unequivocally condemned by every right-thinking citizen."

On the other hand, BJP's West Bengal unit chief Dilip Ghosh stirred a controversy by saying that violence in educational institutes is a "gift" of the Left who are now "getting it back" as scores are being settled. "Violence in students' politics and educational institutes are a gift of the Left outfits. You will witness violence in educational institutes only in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura where Left is either in power or was in power till a few years back," Ghosh told reporters.

Now, the Left students' groups are getting it back as scores are being settled," he said.

Interestingly, on social media, several BJP leaders also condemned the attack on JNU students. "We strongly condemn the violence. This is a desperate attempt by forces of anarchy, who are determined to use students as cannon fodder, create unrest to shore up their shrinking political footprint. Universities should remain places of learning and education," the BJP party said in a Twitter handle.

Human Resource Development minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank also condemned the incident and called it "unfortunate and a matter of serious concern". He appealed to the students to maintain calm and peace.

Economist and Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee on Monday urged the Narendra Modi government to establish "the truth of what happened" at JNU, according to a report. "I think any Indian who cares about the nation's image in the world should worry," Banerjee, a JNU alumnus, told a news website. "This has too many echoes of the years when Germany was moving towards the Nazi rule." Banerjee has criticised the Indian government's economic policies in the past and prescribed ways to bring the economy back on track.

Bollywood celebrities took to social media to condemn the rampage on students and teachers. Swara Bhaskar, Tapsee Pannu, Anurag Kashyap, Shabana Azmi, Ritesh Deshmukh and others have voiced their opinions as well.

"Such is the condition inside what we consider to be a place where our future is shaped. It's getting scarred for ever. Irreversible damage. What kind of shaping up is happening here, it's there for us to see.... saddening," tweeted Tapsee Pannu.

"JNU students being beaten up by ABVP goons. Live on TV! How much longer are you going to look the other way? Or r u spineless? Yes I AM a liberal! Yes, I AM secular! And proud to be so if THIS is the alternative. Shame! Shame on ABVP & the police who are aiding & abetting them!, tweeted Aparna Sen. Shabana Azmi also tweeted stating that it was "beyond shocking" and that "condemnation is not enough. Immediate action needs to be taken."

Ranging from former cricketers including Gautam Gambhir and Irfan Pathan to Rohan Bopanna, India's sports personalities have come together to voice their opinion. "What happened in JNU yesterday is not a regular incident. Students being attacked by an armed mob inside University campus, in hostels, is as broken as it can get. This isn't helping our country's image #JNUViolence," Ifran Pathan tweeted.

Rohan Bopanna, a French Open mixed doubles champion, also condemned the attacks and demanded strict punishment for those behind the violence.

On Monday, the JNU premise was eerily quiet except for a bunch of TV crews stationed outside the North Gate. In the afternoon, as the students and teachers led a peaceful march against alleged police inaction during Sunday night's violence, some students from the Students' Federation of India sat outside the campus gate and sang Hum Dekhenge, penned by Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

Around 3 pm, a large gathering of ABVP supporters gathered near the North Gate. While the students were protesting peacefully outside the gate with more than 200 police personnel in riot gear to keep an eye on them, ABVP supporters increased in number but were kept at bay by a row of police barricades. However, soon the ABVP supporters managed to find a way to bypass the barricade and arrived in front of the North Gate. Leaders of other Hindu outfits were also present and asking people to gather in large numbers to stage a protest against what they called "Left terror". Around 5 pm, the students asking for police to be held accountable left the area around JNU and the ABVP supporters stormed the North Gate area raising slogans.

In solidarity with the JNU students, loud chants of Azadi and Inquilab Zindabad echoed through the air in front of Mumbai's Gateway of India, right outside the imposing Taj Mahal Palace Hotel where students' leader Omar Khalid was also present. There was also a Left-BJP faceoff in Kolkata's Jadavpur area during rallies over JNU violence, with police baton-charging to disperse the supporters. The attack on JNU students also triggered a wave of protests among students in Bengaluru as a group gathered at the Town Hall. There were spontaneous protests in Hyderabad as well. More than 200 students from the University of Hyderabad took out a rally from the South Campus to the main gate around midnight in protest against the attacks in JNU.