JNU Mayhem

As many as 20 students and teachers were injured when violence broke out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) as scores of masked men carrying rods and sticks went on a rampage on campus on Sunday evening.

- Ajay Kumar

Among injured was university’s students union president Aishe Ghose who alleged that she was brutally attacked by masked “goons” and professor Sucharita Sen of the centre for study of regional development, and her pictures with an injury on head were shared extensively on social media. The two rival political factions affiliated to Left parties, and the Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) accused each other of engineering the violence that led to heavy police deployment, evoking strong responses from top political leadership in power and in opposition, and prompted the fearful students to flee and head out to their hometowns. Ghosh was seen in a video clip with blood on her face as she broke down.

‘I’VE BEEN BLEEDING’

“I was brutally attacked by goons who were masked. I don’t know, I have been bleeding… I’m not in a condition to talk, I have been brutally beaten up,” she was heard saying.Ghosh, who belongs to the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), did not suggest who the attackers were. She was then moved to AIIMS for treatment where her condition was said to be stable. JNU Student’s Union (JNUSU) said its president was singled out and hit on her head by men who entered the university campus “with the blessing of the guards, the administration and the police”.

In a statement, the students’ union alleged that “ABVP had been attacking students who are peacefully protesting against massive fee hike in JNU”.