NEW DELHI: The academic environment at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was severely disturbed last night when masked elements associated with left-wing organisations unleashed violence on campus. The sequence of events that unfolded in front of the School of Social Sciences created an atmosphere of fear and chaos across the university. A mob of approximately 400 masked individuals reportedly surrounded the area in an organised manner and targeted ordinary students. The attack was premeditated, with ABVP activists being specifically identified and subjected to life-threatening assaults.
It is important to note that ABVP has consistently been agitating against the anti-student CPO Manual, which was implemented during the tenure of the left-led JNUSU and JNUTA. ABVP has organised protests, mess campaigns, class campaigns, and signature campaigns demanding the withdrawal of this anti-student CPO Manual. Enraged by this student-centric movement, goons affiliated with the left-led JNUSU, who have been expelled by the university administration and declared out of bounds for vandalising equipment (public property) installed in the JNU Central Library, took out a march from Sabarmati T-Point to the JNU VC Gate.
During this march, the masked goons deliberately gathered near the School area and forcibly ordered students studying in the reading room to vacate the premises. When students resisted, they were beaten. When ABVP activists intervened to protect fellow students, the masked left-wing mob identified them and attacked them with the intent to kill. The gravity of their intent is evident from the fact that two research scholars, Vijay and Manish, were chased and brutally beaten by more than 150 goons.
As these students managed to hide inside school washrooms and electricity rooms, the attackers pursued them there as well and attempted to break open the doors. In one washroom, left-wing goons discharged a fire extinguisher, causing student Prateek to suffocate due to carbon dioxide exposure, leaving him in a critical condition. Terrified students called the police; however, only three to four officers arrived to handle a mob of such magnitude and remained mute spectators rather than rescuing the students. After several hours, ABVP activists themselves ensured the safe evacuation of all trapped students from the violent mob.
Among the injured are Prateek Bhardwaj (School of Biotechnology), Animesh Kumar (School of Languages), Vijay (School of Social Sciences), and research scholar Manish Chaudhary (School of Social Sciences), along with several other students. Students have stated that throughout the entire incident, the university administration and the Delhi Police remained inactive, which is extremely alarming.
The left-wing attackers came fully prepared, with their faces covered to conceal their identities and armed with sharp weapons, iron rods, and heavy stones. The violence began with stone-pelting, creating chaos and panic across the campus. As students ran for safety, they were surrounded and assaulted. ABVP activists were specifically identified, chased down, and attacked with rods and sharp weapons. Several students sustained serious injuries and lost consciousness.
This entire episode exposes the true and violent character of left-wing politics, which publicly speaks of democracy and freedom of expression but resorts to brutality within the campus. A space meant for academic dialogue and study was transformed into a battlefield of weapons and stone-throwing. Such organised violence in a relatively secure School area raises serious questions about the university’s security arrangements. It is shocking that despite expelling certain JNUSU office bearers, the JNU administration failed to prevent them from executing such large-scale violence. The JNU administration bears equal responsibility for this violence, alongside the expelled student leaders.
Praveen Piyush, Secretary of the ABVP JNU unit, condemned the incident and demanded that the university administration and the Delhi Police identify all accused individuals through CCTV footage, register FIRs under serious charges, including attempt to murder, and ensure their immediate arrest. He stated that ABVP will not allow the university campus to become a hub of political violence. He further stated that the objective of the left-wing miscreants was to murder anti-left students and turn JNU into “Naxalbari.”
Vaibhav Meena, former Joint Secretary of the JNUSU, stated that the entire incident was the result of a pre-planned conspiracy. Students were forcibly evicted from the School Centre library, the premises were locked, and those who raised questions were assaulted. Several injured activists are currently admitted to Safdarjung Hospital. Among the injured are Prateek Bhardwaj (School of Biotechnology), Animesh Kumar (School of Languages), Vijay (School of Social Sciences), and research scholar Manish Chaudhary (School of Social Sciences), among others. The negligence of the JNU administration and its collusion with Naxalite elements led to the outbreak of this entire episode of violence.
