According to the police, three students sustained injuries at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) following a clash between members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Left-backed groups on Thursday night. Videos circulated by the student factions depict scenes of chaos within the university campus as students engage in physical altercations during a general body meeting for the impending students’ union elections.
The altercation arose between the groups during a dispute over the appointment of election committee members at the School of Languages, escalating into physical confrontations among the students.
#WATCH | Delhi | A clash broke out between ABVP and Left-backed student groups at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), last night. The ruckus was reportedly over the selection of election committee members at the School of Languages.
(Video Source: JNU students)
(Note: Abusive… pic.twitter.com/BfpFlhUM2T— ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2024
In one of the videos, a student can be seen bleeding from his head while being escorted away from the group, while another video captures a person hurling a bicycle at a cluster of students. Some of those injured were admitted to Safdarjung Hospital, as confirmed by a JNU official speaking to the media.
Although the university administration has yet to release an official statement regarding the incident, the student factions have pointed fingers at each other for initiating the clash. However, the police have stated that they have not received any formal complaints regarding the matter.
AISA JNU vice president speaking to ANI said, “First of all, this was not a clash. This is a one-sided attack, a one-sided assault…Every school has been conducting a General Body Meeting (GBM) since the last two weeks, The last GBM was yesterday. The election body of School Language was supposed to be elected yesterday. Four names were elected but the ABVP hijacked the entire process. When it resumed and the process concluded…we came to know that they had surrounded Danish (AISA) and were not letting him leave. We tried to speak with them but they didn’t listen to us and started to launch an attack with sticks…They also hit me on my head…They do this under the protection of VC and the Police.”
#WATCH | AISA JNU vice president says, “First of all, this was not a clash. This is a one-sided attack, a one-sided assault…Every school has been conducting a General Body Meeting (GBM) since the last two weeks, The last GBM was yesterday. The election body of School Language… pic.twitter.com/1dRdzJqjrP
— ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2024
Left-leaning organizations such as the Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF) and All India Students Association (AISA) have accused ABVP members of disrupting the meeting, using casteist and sexist language to intimidate students and harass security personnel.
