The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration has sought the registration of an FIR after a group of students raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday night, calling the slogans “provocative, inflammatory, and a direct contempt of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.”
JNU Chief Security Officer Naveen Yadav said that “During the course of the programme, subsequent to the judicial verdict on the bail pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, the nature and tone of the gathering changed significantly. Certain students began raising highly objectionable, provocative, and inflammatory slogans. It is a direct contempt of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.”
In a letter to the SHO of Vasant Kunj police station, Yadav wrote, “The raising of such slogans is wholly inconsistent with democratic dissent, violates the JNU Code of Conduct, and has the potential to seriously disturb public order, campus harmony, and the safety and security environment of the University.”
“The slogans raised were clearly audible, deliberate, and repeated, thereby indicating intentional and conscious misconduct rather than any spontaneous or inadvertent expression. The act reflects a wilful disregard for institutional discipline, established norms of civil discourse, and the peaceful academic character of the University campus,” he said.
According to a purported video, the protest took place late Monday at the Sabarmati Hostel on the JNU campus, hours after the Supreme Court denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi violence conspiracy case, as part of an event titled “A Night of Resistance at the Guerrilla Dhaba” to mark the sixth anniversary of the 2020 campus violence.
The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) said the protest was part of the annual commemoration of the January 5, 2020 Hindutva attack on the campus.
JNUSU president Aditi Mishra said the slogans were ideological and not targeted at any individual.
“All the slogans raised during the protest were ideological and did not attack anyone personally,” she was quoted as saying by PTI.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh said such people should be tried for treason, alleging that the JNU protesters had a “Pakistan mentality” and calling JNU a hub of the “tukde-tukde gang.”
Delhi ministers Ashish Sood and Manjinder Singh Sirsa also condemned the protest, blaming the Opposition for backing such acts. Sood referred to past statements allegedly made by Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid and said such individuals were being shown sympathy for political reasons.
Calling the protesters “urban Naxals,” BJP leader Pradeep Bhandari alleged that the sloganeering at JNU was being ideologically backed by the Congress and Rahul Gandhi.
“Slogans raised by urban Naxals in JNU are given ideological support by Rahul Gandhi and the Indian National Congress party. Ever since the Supreme Court rejected the bail of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, Congress leaders have come out in support of them. Now, hiding behind students, urban Naxals are raising slogans against the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. Does the Congress party support these slogans too?” Bhandari said.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit defended the right to protest against court verdicts but criticised the use of derogatory language. “You can criticise people, but there is a way and manner in which you express it,” he said.
On Monday, the Supreme Court denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, holding that their role in the alleged conspiracy behind the 2020 Northeast Delhi violence placed them on a “higher footing in the hierarchy of participation.”
However, the court granted conditional bail to five other anti-CAA activists accused in the case.
The protest also revived memories of the January 5, 2020 violence at JNU, when a masked mob attacked students and faculty inside hostels, injuring at least 28 people, including then JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh. The Delhi Police had faced widespread criticism at the time for its handling of the incident.
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