Leaders condemn attacks on JNU students

Leaders from across the political spectrum have condemned the attacks on the students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) inside the campus.

Along with the condemnation, the blame game has also started over the violence that swept the university campus on Sunday as several masked individuals thrashed students and teachers with wooden and metal rods.

Two office-bearers of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), including President Aishe Ghosh were badly injured. The JNUSU accused the RSS' student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for the violence.

The ABVP, in return, has blamed the Left for the violence. It claimed that at least 25 of its activists were injured, while another 10 activists were missing ever since the attack.

The JNU administration, on the other hand, has appealed to the students to maintain peace.

Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar assured the students that no person involved in the violence will be spared and appropriate action will be taken.

"Their intent is clearly aimed at disrupting the functioning of the university. This is simply hooliganism and against the ethos of JNU. No such person will be spared and appropriate action will be taken," Kumar said.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar blamed the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party and Left parties for the violence.

He said, "Few elements along with a group from the Congress, the AAP and the Communists deliberately want to create an atmosphere of violence across India and particularly in universities. There should be an inquiry against them."

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray compared Sunday's violence in JNU with the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

"Why were the attackers faces covered? Why are they hiding? I was reminded of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks... They are cowards," Thackeray said condemning the violence.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee termed the attack a "shame on our democracy".

"No words are enough to describe such heinous acts," she tweeted.

She said that a four-member Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation, led by Dinesh Trivedi, will visit the campus and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to express solidarity with the students attacked by masked individuals.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he was shocked to know about the violence at JNU.

"Students attacked brutally. Police should immediately stop violence and restore peace. How will the country progress if our students will not be safe inside university campuses?" Kejriwal asked.

He spoke with Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baijal and urged him to direct police to restore order.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik too called the incident shocking.

"Violence has no space in democracy and such attacks on students must be condemned unequivocally. Appeal law enforcement agencies to take swift action to apprehend the culprits and wish the injured students a speedy recovery," he tweeted.

Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan blamed the attack on the 'Sangh Parivar' and asked them to end the diabolical plan to silence universities with bloodshed.

"The attack on students and faculty of JNU is an appalling display of intolerance running amok. The scale of the attack reveals the extent of planning. Sangh Parivar must end this diabolical plan to silence universities with bloodshed. Remember, those students are speaking for all," he tweeted.

Calling the incident "shocking", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said "the fascists in control of our nation are afraid of the voices of our brave students. Today's violence in JNU is a reflection of that fear."

In a series of tweets, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi blamed the Centre and said, "there is something deeply sickening about a government that allows and encourages such violence to be inflicted on their own children."

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati also condemned the violence inside the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Yadav hit out at the Centre and said that masked men attacking teachers and students in JNU shows how 'low' the government will stoop to establish the rule of fear. "The BJP is using violence and hatred to polarise society and stifle dissent. The ABVP are acting like the storm troopers of the BJP," he said.

The BSP termed the mob attack as shameful and demanded a judicial probe into the incident.

"The violence against students and teachers in JNU is shameful and condemnable. The Centre should take it seriously and it would be better to order a judicial probe into it," Mayawati said.