The entrance to Sabarmati Hostel a day after the violence
A scene from a room in Sabarmati Hostel, JNU after masked goons attacked students and teachers on January 5. (Morung Photo: By Special Arrangement)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | January 8
“Hearing goons bashing common students itself is traumatizing. Imagine seeing masked face with lathi, woods, poles and rods on their hands with your naked eye,” stated Kehrie, visibly disturbed, narrating the evening of January 5 when teachers and students were assaulted at the premier Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi.
“Crying for help wouldn’t have help as the goons charged over you. Irrespective of party lines everyone was beaten up,” the Master of Arts student added.
On January 5, unprecedented and shocking visuals of masked miscreants armed with rods, sticks and stones attacking common students and teachers of JNU spread on various media platforms inviting widespread condemnations.
With allegations and counter-allegations flowing thick and fast over what the JNU Students’ Union President alleged as an “organised attack” since then, The Morung Express reached out to some students from Nagaland studying in JNU to share their experience on the ill-fated night.
A research scholar in JNU’s School of International Studies (SIS) said that it was around 4:30 pm when the first incident occurred between the masked men and students at Periyar Hostel and around the vicinity.
“Later around 6:30 pm, the mob armed with stones, hockey sticks, and iron rods moved towards the Sabarmati T-point where the JNUTA (JNU Teachers’ Association) peace march was being held. In matter of seconds the mob pelted stones and lashed out iron rods and sticks on the unarmed students and teachers assembled there. While most ran to take refuge to the nearest hostel which is the Sabarmati hostel, the others ran in different directions,” she added.
“The armed mob followed the students to Sabarmati hostel, which was completely vandalized as they entered. Boys’ rooms were specifically targeted and attacked, with rooms belonging to the right wing spared. The boys jumped out of the balconies, some took refuge at the girl’s wing and some who couldn’t escape were beaten up,” she said
“The girls formed a human chain to block the goons’ entry to the girl’s wing. However, they were also injured. The vandalism took place roughly till 9 pm.”
An eye witness to what happened at Sabarmati Hostel, Api narrated: “The goons came in groups and vandalized the rooms, breaking the entrance glass doors, brutally attacking pre planned targets in the boys’ wing. In the girls’ wing, we tried to stop them but they threw stones on us and some were badly hurt.”
“Since Wi-Fi in the campus hasn’t been working for a couple of days and phone network at an all time low, we couldn’t even call our worried parents who were updated about news of the brutalities of our campus only through news channels,” the PhD Scholar added.
Another PhD scholar, Amen Jr recalled getting frantic calls and messages from friends asking about her whereabouts.
“Scared of events unfolding I managed to flee the campus around 7:45 pm… As I reached the campus the next day with trepidation, my hostel which was almost deserted with barely 3 rooms with lights switched on. Contemplating whether to take refuge for another night outside, I carefully laid out an ‘easy to slip on clothes and shoes’ in case there was another attack for quick escape, before sleeping,” she added. Security guards, she alleged, stood by and watched as innocent students were beaten up.
“The roads and hostel adjacent to mine was filled with chaos with desperate calls for help in pain and panic. I quickly dressed and ran out to make an escape from the campus, scared the other hostel might be attacked too,” stated Amongla, who is also pursuing her research at the university.
“The main gate was locked; police and ABVP members already gathered in hundreds chanting outside the gate. Unable to make an exit, we took another route for exit to take shelter outside,” she added.
According to the SIS research scholar, hours after the violence, the police entered the campus, but the goons had already left by then. Students and residents flocked to the streets of the campus, scared of the events that has unfolded and bewildered as to what would happen next.
“We demand an immediate course of action and catch the culprits as soon as possible, my hostel wardens had resigned (the next day) for not being able to protect students when the incident happened,” Api asserted.
According to media reports, three days after masked goons entered JNU and brutally attacked students and teachers, the Delhi Police has made no arrest so far.
The situation in the campus on January 8 is normal, updated Amongla, on Wednesday.
Initially, the police termed the attack as "scuffle" due to differences between students over the registration process. The JNU Registrar, in a statement, too called the violence as “scuffles.”
Under fire from students and faculty members for not taking care of the situation, JNU Vice Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar had urged the students to put the past behind and return to the varsity's premises, PTI news agency reported on Tuesday.
Protests across the country were held on Tuesday to show solidarity for the JNU violence and Bollywood star Deepika Padukone visited the JNU to express solidarity with the students.
The Delhi Police registered two FIRs for incidents that happened in JNU on January 3 and January 4 where JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh and others were named.
Opposition parties and student groups alleged that instead of nabbing the culprits, the victims were being targeted by 'fake' FIRs. Meanwhile, a fringe Hindu group known as the Hindu Raksha Dal has claimed responsibility for Sunday's violence in JNU, stated an update by India Today.
On Wednesday, the VC with the Secretary Amit Khare and Joint Secretary G.C. Hosur of Ministry of Human Resource Development, on Wednesday morning.
Kumar briefed MHRD officials on the steps taken to bring normalcy back in the JNU campus, IANS news agency reported.
The JNU administration on Tuesday also announced formation of a panel to look into the reasons that triggered the Sunday campus violence, leaving many students injured and causing outrage across the nation, it said.
Meanwhile, in another development, IANS reported on Wednesday evening that Delhi Police has obtained "vital leads" in JNU violence.
“The Centre on Wednesday said that the Delhi Police has obtained "vital leads" in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) violence and efforts are going on to identify the masked people engaged in the act,” it said.
“Officials, requesting anonymity, said that ‘no fresh cases were registered,’ apart from three already done regarding the JNU incident which occurred on Sunday where a masked mob carrying iron and wooden rods, left 30 persons, including students and teachers, injured,” it added.
"No arrests have been made so far. However, police has vital leads and lot of positive efforts going on for the identification of the masked people engaged in violence in JNU," the report said.
The government source shared the input a day after a fringe group by the name of Hindu Raksha Dal claimed responsibility for the violence, it added.
