Masked men standing outside Jawaharlal Nehru University blocked and allegedly damaged an ambulance that was trying to enter the campus after students and professors were attacked by a masked mob on Sunday night.
The Hindu reported that a team of nine doctors from hospitals including All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was attacked outside the main gate of the JNU. The doctors had come with medical supplies to the university to help the students and professors who were injured in the attack.
Violence broke out at the JNU on Sunday night as masked men armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus. At least 28 people, including JNU Students' Union president Aishe Ghosh, were injured as chaos reigned on the campus for nearly two hours.
Harjit Singh Bhatti, a doctor in Delhi, took to Twitter to state that his team of doctors, nurses and medical volunteers who had come to JNU to help injured students was also attacked by hundreds of goons. The doctor shared pictures of the ambulance that they were travelling in and stated that the mob broke the glass and windows of the ambulance.
Our team of doctors, nurses & medical volunteers who reached JNU to give first aid to injured students & teachers, was attacked by hundreds of goons. Mob manhandled doctors, nurses & threatened them. Our ambulance’s glass & windows broken, this is totally inhuman & insane. pic.twitter.com/IOiu7BHVbG
— Harjit Singh Bhatti (@DrHarjitBhatti) January 5, 2020
He told Telegraph India that the mob pushed and manhandled the doctors, telling them that there was no need to give anyone any medical assistance on campus.
A video put out by journalist Saikat Dutta shows that a van carrying medical supplies was blocked by men wearing masks and the medical volunteers inside the van were heard asking, “We have already been checked by the police, who are you?” to the masked men trying to get hold of the supplies.
Ambulance being stopped at JNU gate by people refusing to show their identity. This matches the conversations we have seen in WhatsApp groups pic.twitter.com/ssNEQXM4g5
— Saikat Datta (saikatd@mstdn.social) (@saikatd) January 5, 2020
Eyewitnesses alleged the attackers entered the JNU premises when a meeting was being held by JNU Teachers' Association on the issue of violence on campus, and assaulted students and professors. They also barged into three hostels. Video footage aired by some TV channels showed a group of men, who were brandishing hockey sticks and rods, moving around a building.
A delegation comprising students and teachers from JNU, Jamia and Delhi University submitted an application to the Delhi Police PRO with four demands, including urgent medical assistance to injured students and arrest of the accused behind the violence.
"The police have assured us that they will look into the matter and our demands," president Federation of Central University Teachers' associations Rajib Ray said. The students demanded that the police leave the JNU campus. Earlier, police said peace has been restored in the JNU after the violence.