Indian capital woke up to an ugly side of it on Sunday when masked men with sticks and rods entered the picturesque and peaceful campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University that stood testimony to the country's debate-centric intellectual discussions and dissent for over five decades.
The attack by masked men on students barging into the dining halls and hostel rooms showed the deterioration of law and order in the country's capital with security in premier universities of India coming under question. The attack on JNU came within a month after similar attack on Jamia Milia Islamia University in the capital left behind similarly bruised victims or students in the campus last month.
JNU, long seen as a bastion of left-wing politics, is in the forefront against the recent NRP and CAA protests. As the entire country turned up on roads to show solidarity for the students beaten and hospitalized with bruises, Delhi Police said it is investigating how masked men carried out the attack for over three hours without police entering the campus despite frantic calls ffrom students and teachers for security.
Police version
"Social media and CCTV footage will be part of the investigation," said police official Devendra Arya, adding the violence at the university had prompted police to start a case. Students alleged that police had failed to act, leaving them at the mercy of the mob, while Delhi police maintained that they were not given permission immediately to enter the campus.
Medical relief
Even medical teams which reached the campus to treat the injured were reportedly attacked. Harjit Bhatti, former president of the resident doctors' association at AIIMS, in a tweet said:"Our team of doctors, nurses & medical volunteers who reached JNU to give first aid to injured students & teachers, was attacked by hundreds of goons... Mob manhandled doctors, nurses & threatened them. Our ambulance's glass & windows broken, this is totally inhuman & insane."
Another lawyer for the Delhi Police by name Rahul Mehra said on Twitter: "I...hang my head in shame after witnessing video clips of goons merrily entering JNU campus, creating mayhem and grievously injuring innocent students, damaging public property and then exiting the campus."
(With inputs from Reuters)
