ABVP accuses left wing students of pre-planned attack

New Delhi (India): Contrary to the reports that two student groups of Jawaharlal Nehru University clashed over eating non-vegetarian food on Ram Navami on Sunday, ABVP’s JNU unit president Rohit Kumar, in a press conference, alleged that the left-wing student associations had a pre-planned conspiracy to derail Ram Navami pooja and unleash violence against us.

ABVP on Monday alleged that the left-wing associations are using diversionary tactics by raising the issue of non-vegetarian food.

Explaining the chronology of events, Kumar alleged that ever since the students of Kaveri hostel announced to celebrate Ram Navami at the hostel's mess with proper permission from authorities, the organising students started receiving threats. On the eve of Ram Navami, left students even brought out a fake handwritten circular in the warden's name to derail the event of Ram Navami and puja.

Four different student-led initiatives were already scheduled which include bhajan, kirtan, recitation of Hanuman Chalisa, and sweets distribution on Sunday.

The puja was supposed to begin at 3.30 pm on April 10 but students from the left-wing reached the Kaveri hostel to create a ruckus by sloganeering and trying to stop students who wanted to attend the event at the hostels' gate. But after seeing the huge crowd of devotees they had to return. Finally, the puja started at 5.30 pm clashing with Iftar timings, and concluded at 8.30 pm.

More than 150 students from the left wing, armed with stones, sticks, lathis, and CFL tubes, entered Kaveri hostel's mess and started attacking students, said Kumar asking how so many students can gather without any planning.

Many students attending scheduled Ram Navami celebrations were attacked by students belonging to the left wing. Kumar said that a student Raviraj received 12 stitches after being hit with tube lights, and another student Adarsh Jha was beaten brutally. Even a divyang student named Vijay was attacked, alleged Kumar. Students from the left-wing also snatched and tore flags brought by devotees on the occasion of Ram Navami.

ABVP also lodged a formal complaint at Vasant Kunj police station. Earlier today, police had lodged an FIR against unknown ABVP members after complaints from JNUSU, SFI, and AISA.

Kumar further clarifies saying the ABVP did not have any issue with non-vegetarian food being served. As ABVP does not believe in interfering in any hostel’s mess menu, hostel committees which are led, owned and run by students only are free to decide what to cook and eat.

Kumar said that there is an atmosphere of fear in and around campus among students. “In the previous years during Ramzan days, delicacies like fruits, sweets, pakoras, and milk were distributed among students. But this time around, desperately bringing out an ill-intentioned agenda to create unrest in the name of non-vegetarian food on the day of Ram Navami hints towards a bigger conspiracy,” he added.

Drawing patterns from previous attacks on ABVP and its supporters in 2013 when Geelani was invited on campus, and in 2016 when alleged slogans of ‘Bharat tere tukde honge’ were raised, Kumar alleged that there were concocted attacks on ABVP every successive year.

Students and supporters from the left-wing, look like making consciously targeted attacks on poor, marginalised, divyang students, added Kumar.

Kumar demanded a free and fair investigation of the unfortunate event and desired justice to be served as soon as possible, reiterating everyone is free to eat whatever student committees of the hostel decide for their mess menu. (With inputs from PTI)