Students gathered at Ramaswamy Circle in Mysuru on Monday to protest against the violence unleashed on the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi on Sunday evening.
The students, who had come together under the aegis of All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO), held aloft placards expressing their “solidarity with the victims of atrocities in JNU” and shouted slogans against the ‘goondaism’ and ‘hooliganism’ on the campus.
A statement issued on behalf of AIDSO’s Mysuru district unit said the “masked goondas belonging to Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who were wielding iron rods and lathis” had unleashed terror on the JNU campus by attacking students and teachers.
The attackers targeted the students, who were protesting against the hike in fees by JNU, AIDSO claimed while describing as ‘shameful’ the alleged cooperation shown by the Delhi police to the goondaism on the campus.
AIDSO also accused the JNU administration of supporting violence by allowing the masked goondas to enter the campus and attack the students opposing the fee hike. Meanwhile, a group of activists from different organisations staged a demonstration in front of Ambedkar’s statue at Town Hall condemning the violence in JNU. The protest was led by social activist Shabbir Mustafa of the Save Constitution Committee.
Dalit Vidyarthi Okkoota, University of Mysore’s Research Scholars Association, Bahujan Vidyarthi Sangha and Basava Balaga will also be organising protests against the violence in JNU.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders in Mysuru including Varuna MLA Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokespersons M.A. Lakshmana and Manjula Manasa too criticised the violence on the JNU campus.
In Shivamogga
Condemning the assault on students by masked men on the JNU campus, students from various colleges in Shivamogga city staged a protest on the premises of Deputy Commissioner’s office under the aegis of National Students Union of India (NSUI) on Monday.
Addressing the protest meet, Chethan K., vice-president of NSUI State unit, alleged that JNU students have been targeted for the protests they had staged against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens(NRC) recently.
He said there was a glaring failure by the Delhi police controlled by Ministry of Home Affairs to collect intelligence inputs on the incident and to provide security for the students.
Referring to the incidents of police beating up students on the campus of Jamia Milia Islamia University and the crackdown at Aligarh Muslim University during the protests against CAA, he said students who are against the CAA are being targeted in a systematic manner.
The intolerance displayed against the students for expressing their political views is against the democratic ethos of the land, he said.
The protesters raised slogans demanding a thorough probe into the JNU incident and arrest of the assailants at the earliest. They requested the President to take note of the atrocities being committed against students who have taken stand against CAA.
Memorandum
They submitted a memorandum to the President in this regard through the office of Deputy Commissioner. Functionaries of NSUI Balaji, Vinay, Vijay and Ravi took part in the protest.
The functionaries of Students United Movement staged a separate protest in the city condemning the attack on the students at JNU.
In Hassan
The Hassan district unit of the Students Federation of India, here on Monday, staged a protest condemning the assault on students and teaching faculty at JNU.
The protesters raised slogans against the ABVP and the Central government for the incident.
They staged a dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
‘Barbaric’
Asha, district SFI president, said the incidents at JNU were ‘barbaric’. The police and the university administration remained mute spectators to the violence, she alleged. For the last two months, members of Jawaharlal Nehru University students’ union had been staging a protest against the fee hike. The ABVP attacked the students to stop their protest against the fee hike, she further alleged.
The protesters demanded that the Centre act against those who attacked the students and provide justice for the victims.
SFI district secretary Ramesh, DYFI district secretary Pruthvi, Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha district president H.R. Naveen Kumar and others led the protest.
