Delhi University Students Protest; ABVP Creates Havoc

NEW DELHI: Protests gripped Delhi University’s North Campus, after ABVP supporters pelted stones in the Ramjas College premises in protest of the invitation to JNU student Umar Khalid for a cultural event on Tuesday. Following the incident, the invitation was withdrawn, leading to protests by AISA (All India Student Association) and other groups and students. The protesting students said that withdrawing the invitation was capitulating to violence, and is an attack on “freedom of speech and expression.”

AISA tried to lead a protest in front of Maurice Nagar police station but ABVP didn’t allow that and started locking students and teachers inside the campus. The situation turned violent on Wednesday when both the groups started fighting and many people were injured.

According to the students of Delhi University who were present it was ABVP which began the violence and disrupted the event by throwing stones and started verbally and physically abusing students. After this incident the Delhi University students protested in front of Delhi Police headquarters at ITO on Thursday demanding to lodge a separate FIR against the ABVP. Their allegations were that the FIR lodged by police has shown the incident as a clash between two groups but actually it was ABVP which attacked the students peacefully protesting.

In the protest, students were chanting slogans criticizing Delhi Police for their complacency in dealing with the matter. They accused the Delhi Police for being manipulated by people in power backing ABVP, and thereby allowing ABVP members impunity in committing acts of violence.

Aman, a student in the protest said, “they just crossed their limits yesterday. This has never happened before. ABVP attacked students; teachers and even journalists were not spared. They were throwing stones and a student got 12 stitches. One of my professors was also brutally attacked. This all was done under the protection of Delhi police who did nothing to stop this.”

One of Ramjas College’s ex-student who had also joined the protest said, “this is not the first time ABVP has disrupted the peace. ABVP students used to vandalize properties disrupted classes or threatened students and even teachers just this time we have cameras around us. They are basically goons supported by political parties.” When asked about the scenario of Ramjas College right now he said that “right now everyone is scared in the college. Hardly any students are present here in the protest. ABVP students had beaten up students during the protest yesterday and even after the protest they were searching for students and also physically assaulted them. They had given rape threats to girls of Ramjas College. This is unprecedented and if this not stopped then there is nothing left for freedom in this country.”

After a long wait the Commissioner of Police came and said that the FIR has been filed but he did not accept a separate FIR. He described the protest as a clash between two groups and not an attack on freedom of speech.

The students continued their protest chanting slogans and singing revolutionary songs. The place was surrounded by heavy police force. Umar Khalid, JNU student was also present during the protest and said, “Delhi police is just protecting these hooligans and even if the FIR is filed we can expect that no action is going to be taken against the culprits. Delhi police and government of India are patronizing them and it is clear. Last year they did that in Patiala Court when goons were posing themselves as lawyers now goons posing themselves as students.”

There were students in the protest who said that “the people who attacked yesterday were not just students but outsiders were also involved and beaten people up. They were just goons who were supported by political parties. They created nuisance, physically assaulted students and teachers. No actions were taken against them. This is intolerable. You can see the number of students gathered here belongs to various colleges of Delhi University. This is the first time such kind of mobility is been seen against ABVP amongst the students. If this is not stopped right now and no action is taken we are going to organize a bigger protest next week.”

The Delhi police have since transferred the case to crime branch, who will handle it now onwards. But the police still refused to file a separate FIR saying it is not needed. At the end students wrote down their complaints on a piece of paper which is going to be circulated to the media and if still no action is taken, in a few days they will file a complaint to the magistrate and will organize another protest.

The reluctance to file a separate FIR indicates that the ABVP is enjoying a certain degree of police protection. The students criticised the media for not showing the true picture of the events that transpired. The matter is now widely politicized. ABVP also organized a protest in North Campus chanting “JNU incident will not be repeated.” Whether the police is going to take any action against the culprits remains to be seen.