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Students of NLS, Jamia, UoH, AMU and others protest violence at JNU

The reactions to this violence were almost spontaneous across many campuses in India.

Written by : TNM Staff

Even as the country watched the visuals emerging from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi in shock, sporadic protests broke out in campuses across the country condemning the violence. On Sunday evening, a mob of around 60-100 masked people attacked a peace gathering at JNU. Many students and teachers were severely injured in the attack. The JNU Students Union alleged that ABVP members and outsiders had unleashed the violence in an already tense campus that had seen altercations between student unions.

As news of the attack spread, the gates of JNU were closed, most street lights were off and even mediapersons who gathered at the gates of the University were attacked. Many journalists at the gate reported that supporters of the ABVP had gathered at the gate shouting slogans, some of them heckled Yogendra Yadav and even professors who were addressing the media. 

The reactions to this violence were almost spontaneous across many campuses in India. Groups of students came together to condemn the violence in the JNU campus. 

In Bengaluru, students of the National Law University, Bengaluru held a silent protest at the university campus on Sunday night, hours after the students and professors were attacked. The students lit candles to show solidarity with their counterparts in JNU. Protests are also scheduled to be held on Monday, January 6, at Bengaluru’s Town Hall at 4 pm.

In Hyderabad, SFI members of the University of Hyderabad gathered in solidarity with the students who were attacked in JNU. Abhishek Nandan, Student’s Union President told TNM, “We are around 200 people protesting against violence against JNU students, who were protesting against the fee hike. We condemn this violence by ABVP and its supporters.” 

Students at Aligarh Muslim University too protested against the violence in JNU. Students of Jamia Millia Islamia University are protesting outside the Delhi police headquarters demanding action against those who attacked students and ransacked the university. 

In Mumbai, too, protests are scheduled to be held at the Gateway of India at 12 am to protest against the attack on JNU students. 

In Pune, students are gathering at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. The youth wing of the Nationalist Congress Party tweeted that the protest was underway at the time of writing.

In Kerala, the SFI Kerala unit took out a march to the Accountant General's office in Thiruvananthapuram. SFI state president VA Vineesh inaugurated the march. "From the beginning, the Modi government from the beginning has been trying to destroy educational institutions in our country. They are saffronising and capitalising the education sector. But we won't bend to this, we will  ideologically oppose their attempt to destroy us with weapons," Vineesh said.

Thiruvananthapuram District Joint Secretary Ajin said that the people of the country won't lose in the fight. “We will face the fight using our brains, and not arms. Modi government is destroying everyone who protests. Modi will be forced to correct,"  he said.

Protests were also on at Jadavpur University in Kolkata.

Calls for protests on Monday are coming from across the country and from abroad. 

People Against Apartheid and Fascism has scheduled a protest at 1 pm on Monday at Cape Town, South Africa. 

Students of SOAS, London will also hold a protest against the brutality and violence against the students of JNU at 10 am on Monday in Bloomsbury, London. 

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