'Police protecting ABVP'; JNU students protest, case filed against six students

NEW DELHI: A protest march by Left Union students from the JNU campus to the Vasant Kunj police station ended in a clash. Several students and police personnel were injured. The violence erupted after the protest march by students of the JNU Students Union (JNUS) demanding action against the ABVP activists who attacked them. The Delhi Police has registered a case against six students, including three JNUS office bearers.
19 boys and nine girls have been taken into police custody. The students alleged that the police brutally beat them up and released video footage of the clash.

The students had taken out a march on Saturday evening to protest the non-registration of cases against ABVP activists operating on the campus. However, the police stopped them by erecting a barricade in front of the western gate of the campus. A clash with the police broke out when the students tried to cross the barricade.

JNU Students' Union President Nitish Kumar released a video against the police and the ABVP after being taken into custody by the police. He alleged that ABVP activists held him and other activists hostage for hours on the day of the general body meeting on the campus on October 3. "On the day of the meeting, ABVP people held me, the vice president and other workers hostage for several hours. We complained to the police. Police came but ABVP beat us in front of Delhi Police. Today when we were protesting, Delhi Police also beat us, tore our clothes. They have detained us but till now no FIR has been registered against ABVP."- he alleged. The students of the Left Union have alleged that the police are protecting ABVP workers.

Police say that a clash broke out between ABVP students and Left students on the campus on the day of Dussehra celebrations. Police said that they spoke to the leaders of both student movements and assured them that necessary legal action would be taken. Police claimed that the students continued to protest, which led to the clash. However, the students said that the police only listened to one side of the clash that took place on Dussehra day and that it was ABVP students who committed violence.