India is no stranger to intense political rows. We see them day in and day out. The extreme emotional attachment with political parties leads even sane people to do very insane things. This is quite a persistent problem in this country. Some examples of such rows being the Badrinath lotus motif, Belagavi row etc.
One of the more recent news of a row involving political sentiments took place in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi. This incident failed to surprise the public because of the sheer frequency of such events but it was still very worrying because of the involvement of students of the university.
WHAT HAPPENED AT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY?
The students at JNU were looking forward to the screening of the BBC docuseries on Prime Minister Narendra Modi but the university cut off the electric supply to stop them from watching it. So, naturally the students took refuge in their phones and continued watching the series there. But suddenly during the black out, they felt that stones were being thrown at them. The students also alleged that along with stones, bricks were also thrown.
WHAT DID THE STUDENTS OF JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY DO?
On Tuesday night several JNU students took part in a protest march from their campus till the Vasantkunj Police Station in order to lodge a complaint regarding the stone pelting. The protest was called off once the students received assurance from the police that they would look into the matter.
The JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) president, Aishe Ghosh stated that “We filed a complaint, and the police assured us they will be immediately looking into the incident. We gave the name and details of all the persons involved. As of now, we’re calling off the protest. We will also file a complaint at the JNU Proctor office.”
She further alleged that ABVP was involved in the stone pelting.
HOW DID THE AUTHORITIES REACT?
Delhi police said that they’re looking into the matter and have begun inquiries regarding the complaint lodged by the students of JNU. Officials also stated that no FIR had been filed.
A JNU student from ABVP, the alleged perpetrators, commented, “Do these people hurling allegations have any evidence that we pelted stones? We did not pelt stones at all.”
CONCLUSION
The facts of this incident are still not clear as every party involved has different claims. The JNU advisory had disallowed the students from holding the screening in the first place but the students had said that the documentary was not meant to create any disharmony and so, they would continue to screen it. Even though the students believe that ABVP was responsible for the pelting, no evidence has been brought forward yet. Finally, we can only be sure of one thing: politics is definitely playing a role here.
