The January 5 attack against students and faculty members of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was “ state-sponsored ”, a Congress fact-finding committee said on Sunday.
It accused Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar of being the “mastermind” of the attacks, demanding his immediate dismissal and a criminal investigation against him, faculty members who conspired with the attackers and the company charged with security on the campus.
“This attack was state-sponsored. There is absolutely no doubt about it... The question is what did the administration and the Delhi police do to stop it,” Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev, a member of the four-member committee, said at the release of the report. She said there was sufficient evidence to prove that the perpetrators were from right-wing factions.
“I have no doubt that what happened on January 5...is pre-planned, pre-mediated and a criminal conspiracy,” said Ms. Dev. She pointed to the disconnection of electricity, as well as the role of the police during the attack and the aftermath, including the failure to file attempt to murder charges against the perpetrators, despite the head injuries to victims.
Noting that there was “overwhelming prima facie evidence that [police officers] facilitated the criminal elements on the campus”, the report said their negligence and complicity brought the Home Ministry under suspicion, too. “The remarks by the Home Minister on the CAA-NRC agitations and punishing of ‘Tukde Tukde Gang’ had also emboldened the perpetrators of violence on the JNU campus,” said the report.
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It accused Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar of being the “mastermind” of the attacks, demanding his immediate dismissal and a criminal investigation against him, faculty members who conspired with the attackers and the company charged with security on the campus.
“This attack was state-sponsored. There is absolutely no doubt about it... The question is what did the administration and the Delhi police do to stop it,” Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev, a member of the four-member committee, said at the release of the report. She said there was sufficient evidence to prove that the perpetrators were from right-wing factions.
“I have no doubt that what happened on January 5...is pre-planned, pre-mediated and a criminal conspiracy,” said Ms. Dev. She pointed to the disconnection of electricity, as well as the role of the police during the attack and the aftermath, including the failure to file attempt to murder charges against the perpetrators, despite the head injuries to victims.
Noting that there was “overwhelming prima facie evidence that [police officers] facilitated the criminal elements on the campus”, the report said their negligence and complicity brought the Home Ministry under suspicion, too. “The remarks by the Home Minister on the CAA-NRC agitations and punishing of ‘Tukde Tukde Gang’ had also emboldened the perpetrators of violence on the JNU campus,” said the report.
