Tag

JNU violence

Browsing

Universities, the breeding ground of education and ideals, echo today with chants of Azadi, and Faiz’s Hum Dekhenge. They think we’ll let go and surrender. However, they don’t know that our resistance is stronger than their hatred.

 
As another year goes by, the ‘one who must not be named’ reigns back to power and, yet again, the country erupts in massive dissent in one of the ways propagated by the moderate protests. While more universities get labelled as ‘anti-national’ by the followers of the ‘party that must not be named’, I am reminded of Satyajit Ray’s Hirak Rajar Deshe (1980); as the protagonist says, “Era joto beshi pore, toto beshi jaane, toto kom mane.” (The more they learn, the more they know, the less they obey).
Nandini Sukhija, a student of Mumbai University, said, “Our political leaders gain power by mobilization of groups, which are usually composed of brainwashed partisans. The intellectuals know better than of all for their cheap and divisive tactics, by which they threaten the Government’s power. It’s not hard to connect the dots and realise why fascist governments will always clamp down the educated and shut down channels of information.”
The well-read are rational critics whereas the ideologists are the irrational ones. Targeting universities, the educated, scholars, and writers, is an age-old gameplay to curb the anti- establishment voices, to curb nothing but dissent and voice.

Forcing the well- read to obey the regressive actions coerced on the vulnerable sections of the society is a task of great objection. The very reason why their voices are silenced is that the establishment is aware that they are wrong, they know that they’d fail if the truth prevailed, if the educated people’s voice reverberated.

The youth is the ‘future’ of India, long ahead after the remains of the politicians have vanished into thin air, their remnants left as a by-product of hate, fear and, fascism, the youth will still exist.

History is evidential of the exemplary contribution and corrupt silence that students are bestowed upon by fascist governments. When the ones to oppose, the ones to criticise cease to exist, their propagation, their ideology, their reign thrives. Democracy without opposition is no democracy at all. Arresting the well-read and labelling them as urban Naxalites is a reminder of the very failure of democracy.
Central universities ordering students to not protest, charging them of disciplinary action to prevent dissent or questioning the Government, Is everyone an accomplice here?

“Educational institutions are the hotspots of awareness. Silencing educational institutions to gain peace is like burning the Amazon and then expecting the earth to be ecologically sound. The consequences will only intensify. “Finger on your lips is not something appealing to the youth,
neither is it going to stay for too long,” Priyanshi Banerjee, a student of Lady Shri Ram College rightfully explains.
If we go down the pages of history, Nazi Germany right before World War II reminds us of eerily similar circumstances. Sonderaktion Krakau, a German terror operation against academics at Jagiellonian University performed in order to eradicate the Polish intellectual elites.

Along with this, Frankfurt University was the first university targeted by Nazis for their liberal, exuberant academic record, scholarships, international faculty, and uphold of democratic values and ideals.
The times we live in are scary, they attack unarmed students, name-call academicians, murder journalists, hush down voices, curb protests. Where is dissent? Where did the safety valve of democracy go?
All revolutions, all rebellions, nationalist movements, demand for rights, protests, agitations, all starts from the students; the very foundation of a stable country. The recent attacks on students at various universities are nothing but an act of cowardice in the world’s largest democracy; the very country which once upheld the ideals of secularism, democracy, justice, liberty, and equality.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Anandi Sen 

[email protected]

On 13th January 2020, the students of Hansraj College, University of Delhi (DU) stopped peaceful protests from happening while a student in the protest alleged violence by a faculty member.

 On 13th January, the students of Hansraj College had given a call for a collective reading of the Preamble of the Indian Constitution and Swami Vivekananda’s historic Chicago Speech. However, as soon as a few of the students had gathered, holding the Indian flag in their hands, the Principal, Dr Rama, came with a few faculty members and started snatching the flag from their hands, taking away their mobile phones and dispersing the crowd.

“I reached LP at 11 am with the National Flag and posters. Dr Rama, The Principal, was already present there with few other teachers and admin staff and was forcing students to vacate the space. Then she rushed towards me and my friend who was holding the other end of the Flag, and tried to snatch the flag. A student also tried to assault us and take away the Flag,” said a student, who wishes not to be named fearing action from the college authorities.

Also, Gaurav Kumar, Physical Education, Professor at Hansraj College, allegedly physically assaulted a third year student due to his participation in the protest.

“Sir told me that he will drag me out of the hostel and beat me up and no one will be able to do anything. Now the problem is, I cannot go anywhere, even the college is adamant on proving me wrong. I’ve filed a written complaint with Rama Ma’am,” the victim told DU Beat.

He added, “Gaurav had a grudge against me as a few days ago, I had shared a screenshot of a post where our professor was using a fake news to attack an actress.”

However, the Assistant Professor denied the claim. The Professor said, “I had confronted him regarding the post, but didn’t touch him. He is lying.”

The student has demanded that the administration of the Hansraj College file an FIR against the teacher, and suspend him until an investigation takes place. Students have decided to hold protests if action is not taken against him.

Image Credits: Anonymous
Image Credits: Anonymous

The original complaint sent to the College administration by the victim.

While all of this was happening, a group of students organised a protest supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in College ground. The administration was lax in reaching out to stop the gathering and was able to stop the pro-CAA gathering, not before videos were made and slogans and chants raised.

Feature Image Credits: Anonymous

 

 

 

In an unforeseen turn of events, Bhupendra Tomar, leader of ‘Hindu Raksha Dal’, a right-wing organisation claimed responsibility for the attacks on the teachers and students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi on the 5th January 2019.

 Bhupendra Tomar, leader of Hindu Raksha Dal, a right-leaning organisation claimed responsibility for the attacks on the teachers and students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi on the 5th January 2019 through admission in a video.

The video surfaced on the internet after being posted by a Twitter user where Tomar, popularly known as Pinki Bhaiya blamed the university for being a hotbed of “Anti-National” and “Anti-Hindu” activities.

Bhupendra Tomar, said in the video, “We take full responsibility for the attack in JNU and would like to say that they were our workers. The way these people have been behaving over the years, especially the people in JNU, it is against our religion. We can never tolerate such anti-national activities,”.

According to the ANI report on the issue, Government sources have informed that the claims made by Pinky Chaudhary (Popular name for Bhupendra Tomar) are under investigation. The sources also informed that the Delhi Police is using CCTV footage and facial recognition to identify the masked men and women.

He also added, “These people live in our country, eat here, study here and indulge in anti-national activities. Hindu Raksha Dal will never tolerate this and again attack whoever tries such ideals.”

He with much pride also confirmed the party’s ideology to engage in further violence in the name of nationalism.

Affirming to that, Pinky Chaudhary said, “If in future others indulge in similar anti-national activities, we will again carry out a similar action in those universities. We take responsibility to carry out these actions.”

The gruesome display of violence that the students and teachers of JNU endured where more than thirty people were injured along with tremendous property damage by the people, who were seen carrying around sticks and rods has succumbed to this video.

JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh was also injured in the incident and was rushed to AIIMS along with the other injured people. All of them were discharged on Monday.

This incident raises major questions about the safety of the students on campus. However, both JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) have blamed each other for the violence.

Feature Image Credits: ANI

Khush Vardhan Dembla

[email protected]