Manish Jangid, general secretary, ABVP JNU, says Ghosh was hurt in an internal conflict between AISA and the SFI.
New Delhi: Violence broke out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus on Sunday night as some masked men armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus. Manish Jangid, general secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) JNU unit, spoke to The Sunday Guardian about the violence and other issues. Excerpts:
Q: There are several versions of how the violence started on Sunday. Please tell us more about it.
A: The violence began on Sunday morning when some students had gone to the registration counter to register for the next semester. There, they were attacked by a mob. Hearing this, some students and ABVP activists gathered near the Vivekananda statue in the administrative block. The members of JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) and a Left-aligned organisation were already present in the school area, which houses various departments of JNU, with several students since the previous day. When we, about 15-20 of ABVP members, went to enquire about the registration process, members from the Left-aligned organisation tried to attack us. However, they could not do much harm to us as there were many security guards present in the area.
After this incident, we hid in the Periyar hostel. However, soon, two or three mobs came from different sides and started pelting stones at us. The situation was similar to that in Kashmir. Our activists were hiding in different rooms in the Periyar hostel. Four people, including myself, were hiding in room no. 24. However, suddenly two mobs broke down our door and started beating us. One mob was led by Satish Chandra Yadav of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) and the other was led by Aishe Ghosh. They selectively targeted the ABVP rooms and attacked us by calling out our names. While I was trying to flee, I got caught by the mob and they beat me till I fell unconscious. A lot of our activists are injured very badly. This took place at around 4 pm.
Q: Can you tell us about the people who were behind the violence that broke at around 7 pm wherein Aishe Ghosh, president of JNUSU, got severely injured? Do you think people from outside the campus were involved in this violence?
A: The identification of people behind the violence that broke out at 7 pm is being done. I don’t know much about it as I was already in AIIMS after I had become unconscious. Aishe Ghosh was injured in an internal conflict between the AISA and Students’ Federation of India (SFI).
Q: Recently, a photo went viral in the social media. It showed faces of two students holding sticks. It is being said that they are members of ABVP. Is it true?
A: This photo is a fake. What’s important here is to find out who were those masked people with sticks and rods. The same masked people had also ransacked the server room of the JNU on 4 January.
Q: It is being said that the WhatsApp group “Unity against Left” was created by ABVP activists to coordinate the violence on Sunday night. Tell us more about it.
A: My phone was broken when the leftists attacked me. There was no such group till the time my phone was operational. However, it is a fact that anyone can create a WhatsApp group and make anyone its “admin”. Here, the group was created by the Leftists and we were made the “admin” of the group without our prior knowledge. The ABVP has no connection with such WhatsApp groups.