Chandigarh
In the wake of the violence that shook Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University on Sunday evening, as Panjab University’s students from across the political spectrum held protest demonstrations at the university’s Student Center on Monday afternoon, the university also witnessed skirmishes.
Before the left and center aligned student groups began their demonstration, a group of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members held a small but loud protest at the Student Centre, condemning the left-leaning outfits for “committing violent form of protest” which led to the “disturbance in education of all studying at the university”. ABVP members held up posters saying, “I condemn leftist violence in JNU”.
Members of the ABVP also harked back to the protests which occurred at Panjab University in 2017, over a proposed fee hike, stating that “leftist outfits had turned the campus into Kashmir by pelting stones”. They said that they would not let such a situation arise at a public university again. “Do not be enslaved by communism, and chant Vande Matram with us!” sloganeered the students, during the demonstration.
The ABVP demonstration was interrupted as a larger wave of protestors from left affiliated outfits, including Students for Society (SFS), Students Federation of India (SFI), All India Students Federation (AISF) and others, entered the premise. The police, thus, herded the ABVP supporters to one side.
“We are here to make sure that no clash occurs between the students, and no violence errupts here. We are determined to keep the opposing groups away,” said a police woman posted at the site. There were many members of the police stationed at the centre on Monday, with a row of three police buses and a riot control van parked opposite the protest venue, with other police officers stationed along the road leading to the Student Centre.
As the cluster of ABVP members were escorted away by the police, the left wing outfits began protesting against the violence committed against students at JNU. They alleging that masked ABVP “goons” were behind the Sunday night’s ordeal at the university, which had inflicted severe injuries to at least 24 students and professors of JNU. The severely injured students of JNU also included JNU Student Union President Aishe Ghosh. The students were joined by activists and professors from the city, including former PU Sociology professor Manjit Singh and political activist Kanwaljeet Singh.
“The establishment wants to oppress students to create discriminatory laws, and divide the land by marginalising Muslims. This is what these students were standing against!” said a student from PSU (Lalkaar), while addressing the gathered crowd of protestors. “Any person, any common man or student who resists discrimination and the prosecution of minorities is labelled as communist and dismissed. Our fight is, hence, not against just CAA anymore, it is against the ways in which they espouse hatred in the country and oppress dissenters!” added the student.
While the left affiliated parties’ protest raged in one corner, a few ABVP members clashed with police officials, who were not allowing them to enter the Dean Student Welfare’s office inside the Student Centre.
“We want to complain to the Dean because they have allowed the left parties to use mikes in the protest, while we had to rely on our voices. Now they seem louder than us. They also have support of outsiders in their protest, which is against the rules,” said Deepti, a member of ABVP.
