JNU attack aided by administration, says teachers association, demands V-C’s resignation

JNUTA wants a judicial inquiry into Sunday's incident and says neither police nor the varsity administration can be trusted with a fair probe.

People gather outside the Delhi police headquarters at ITO to protest against the violence in JNU | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

New Delhi: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) Monday said they were attacked by “goons” Sunday evening whose entry into the campus was facilitated by the varsity administration.

JNUTA secretary Surojeet Majumdar said the association has demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident since the police or JNU administration cannot be “trusted” with a fair probe. 

“The administration is facilitating entry of people from outside…they are letting goons enter the campus. This is a planned attack on faculty members,” said Majumdar. 

“What happened in JNU is not a law and order problem or a clash between two groups…it was a planned attack. The administration is trying to attack us.”

Students and teachers of JNU were beaten up and property damaged by a group of masked men during a gathering organised by the JNUTA Sunday evening. Around 34 students and teachers received injuries in the incident, including JNU Students’ Union President Aishe Ghosh.  

Visuals of students bleeding from the attack and masked individuals roaming the campus carrying sticks and batons surfaced on social media. One footage also showed faculty member Sucharita Sen injured in the incident.

 ‘VC should resign’

JNUTA members said the masked goons had come to the venue of the gathering and begun attacking everyone present there. Teachers, they said, were the first ones to get hit when they went forward to speak with the mob. 

“As a first line of defence for the students, the teachers went ahead to speak to the masked men to understand what they wanted, but they started attacking us. They also threw stones at the gathering,” said Atul Sood, a faculty member at JNU. 

The gathering was called to maintain calm after the JNU campus saw a series of scuffles between activists of the ABVP and Left outfits Friday and Saturday. 

“One of the professors later told me she was hit by a stone the size of a brick. When we came to the campus in the morning, the stones were not there,” added Sood.   

JNUTA members have also demanded that Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar should resign in the aftermath of the attacks. The association has further asked the JNU administration to make public the records of CCTV footage and other evidence related to the incident.

Some other faculty members also alleged that the mob of attackers had come to their homes. Bikramditya Choudhary, a faculty member who lives in the campus, said, “Some goons knocked on my door as well…I was not home, but my wife was. She was terrified and called the police for help.”