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From: Saibaba G N <gnsaibaba@gmail.com>
JNU FORUM AGAINST WAR ON PEOPLE
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
waronpeople@gmail.com
__________________________________
12 April 2010
PRESS RELEASE
This statement is issued to the press on behalf of JNU Forum Against
War on People on the incident of violence and vandalism that were
perpetrated by students belonging to ABVP, NSUI and YFE in the campus
on the nights of 9th and 10th April 2010. On the evening of 9th April
2010, some organisations and individual students organised a programme
titled 'A Cultural Evening of Protest Against Operation Green Hunt' at
Godavari Dhaba under the banner of JNU Forum Against War on People.
The programme was organised to protest against the ongoing Operation
Green Hunt launched by the Indian government against the oppressed
adivasi people of central and eastern India, and to demand the
withdrawal of the security forces. This Forum was formed in September
2009 by the students of JNU with the objective of building a
resistance against the repression on the adivasis of Chhattisgarh,
Maharashta, Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal etc. Under Operation Green
Hunt which was also launched at that time. The cultural programme
included songs and poetry recitation by students of JNU and Jamia,
staging of a play called 'Sadak' written by Habib Tanvir, and
screening of a feature film titled 'Missing' (1982) directed by Costa
Gavras.
Barely a few minutes after the programme started at around 9.45pm, a
group of around 25 students belonging to ABVP led by Vineet
Chaturvedi, Vivek Vishal, Sudheer Sharma, Saurabh Dubey, Sandeep Kr.
Singh, Nitin Bharadwaj, Ashwini, Prateek and Rakesh started shouting
slogans and pushed their way forward towards the dais. Apprehending
that these students attempted to climb on to the stage, the students
present in the audience formed a human chain and tried to stop them
from disrupting the proceedings. The students with the help of the
Group 4 guards present there peacefully prevented them for more than
an hour from barging into the stage, even though these students
continued with their provocations, intimidations and threatening
gestures. They were soon joined by another group of students led by
the NSUI leaders Shabbbir Alam, Bharat Kumar, Yasir Khan and Sunil
Jhajharia.
After the initial attempts at disruption were foiled by the students
present there, they tried to climb onto the stage from different
directions by physically assaulting the students as well as the
university security guards forming the human chain. They broke the
human chain forcefully at various places after indiscriminately
assaulting, beating up and injuring students who were part of the
organisers and the audience. They disconnected the electricity, broke
and destroyed the sound and visual equipments hired for the programme,
and vandalised the dais. As a result of these acts of violence, many
students including Abhiruchi Ojha, Banojyotsna Lahiri, Gayatri,
Anubhav Sengupta, Pavan Patel, Umar Khalid, Vijendra Singh, Utathya,
Kalaiayarasan got injured. Kailash, who was operating the sound-system
was slapped twice on the face by Nitin Bharadwaj in full view of the
audience. Of them, Utathya, Anubhav, Banojyotsna and Umar sustained
injuries and were immediately taken to AIIMS where they received
medical treatment. Medico-Legal Cases (MLC) were also filed there.
After all these acts of violence and vandalism, they also pelted
stones targeting the audience and the people on the dais who were
performing a play at that time. All this while, the Chef Security
Officer of JNU remained a mute spectator rather than preventing the
hooligans and helping the programme to continue. The Dean of Students
also appeared on the scene some time later, and instead of dissuading
the ABVP-NSUI-YFE goons, told the organisers to wrap up the event and
disperse. He also raised the issue that no permission was taken for
the event, knowing full well that there is no provision of taking
administartion's permission for holding public events at the different
dhabas of the campus. As you may be aware, the dhabas of JNU has been
the long-cherished spaces of open and free thinking and sharing
divergent poitical opinions without any administrative interference.
Events in the past have been regularly conducted at the Godavari dhaba
too without taking permission. A police complaint has already been
filed on the night of 9th April in the Vasant Kunj police station
against these students.
This was very much a pre-planned act of violence and assault as is
made clear by the letter dated 9th April addressed to the SHO of
Vasant Kunj police station by Sudhir Sharma and Vinit Chaturvedi, the
office bearers of ABVP, JNU unit (see the attachment). The letter
shows that they came to the programme with the intent of indulging in
violence, and through this to disrupt the programme.
In protest against this incidence of violence, the students of JNU
brought out a protest march on the night of 10th April from Ganga
Dhaba to Chandrabhaga hostel, attended by more than 150 students. When
the march reached Mahi Mandvi hostel, these students started throwing
stones and intimidating the protestors. Moreover, this group of
students went from hostel to hostel, tearing down posters and making
bonfires out of it, as well as passing lewd comments in front of Koyna
hostel.
Before and after this incident, the ABVP leadership in JNU as well as
the Delhi BJP have been spreading the lie that the cultural event was
organised to 'celebrate the killing of 76 CRPF personnel in
Dantewada'. This is nothing but a orchestrated campaign to malign the
JNU Forum Agaisnt War on People, its members, and to justify their
pre-planned violence. A section of the media has also uncritically
reproduced this malicious propaganda by ABVP and NSUI or their
political masters, the BJP or Congress, both of which has vested
interest in continuing the Operation Green Hunt and to suppress all
forms of opposition against it. Anyone who questions or opposes Indian
government's war on the people are immediately branded as
'Maoists/Naxalites' or their sympathisers, so that their voices can be
silenced. This is what the ABVP/BJP/NSUI is trying to do in case of
the members of JNU Forum Against War on People. What is more, even the
Vice Chancellor, the Rector and other officials in the JNU
administration has bought this lie and started making irresponsible
comments to the media that it was 'insensitive' on the part of the
students to organise this event, etc. The leaflet and poster of the
JNU Forum issued before the cultural event of the 9th April makes its
purpose very clear (See attachments). We challenge the ABVP/BJP and
the JNU Vice Chancellor to produce any evidence to prove that the
event was intended to 'celebrate' the Dantewada killing, or else
apologise to the student community of JNU for spreading canards and
vicious propaganda against the Forum.
Such acts of violence and lumpenism are against the democratic culture
of JNU and on our right to expression. JNU Forum Against war on People
strongly condemns this episode and demands that the JNU Administration
take strict and immediate disciplinary action against the
above-mentioned students, so that such acts are not repeated in the
future.
--
G N SAIBABA
