'Those who created mayhem in JNU should be identified, arrested'; Union minister supports JNU students

NEW DELHI: Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Tuesday said those who indulged in the mayhem in Jawaharlal Nehru University should be identified at the earliest and arrested.

Talking to media persons here, Athawale, the president of RPI(A), an ally of the BJP, said the fact-finding team headed by Delhi Police joint commissioner Shalini Singh, which has been asked to probe into the incident, should complete its job as soon as possible so that the perpetrators of the crime are brought to book.

To a question, he said all the culprits, whether belonging to left-wing or right-wing outfits, "should be brought before the law soon".

He said it was painful that the university, which carries the name of Jawaharlal Nehru, has been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons like incident of raising of anti-India slogans, demonstration to condemn the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, disruption of registration process for the winter semester and continuous protests against the hostel fee hike.

He suggested that the university authorities should consider reducing the increased hostel fee by holding talks with student representatives.

Meanwhile, Students' Union president Aishe Ghosh said she was hit with multiple rods during Sunday's "organised" attack on the campus, but every iron rod used against students will be answered to by debate and discussion and the university's culture will never be eroded.

Ghosh, who was admitted to a hospital after sustaining injuries in the attack, demanded the resignation of Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, saying he had not bothered to meet or check upon the injured students and professors.

She claimed that the university security staff had colluded with the vandals during the attack and added that some RSS-affiliated professors had been promoting violence for the past four-five days.

Ghosh, who was discharged on Monday, attended a press conference convened by the students'' union amid cries of ''Lal Salaam'' and ''Red Salute''.

"It was an organised attack. They were singling out people and attacking," she told reporters.

"There is a clear nexus between JNU security (staff) and vandals. They did not intervene to stop violence."

Masked men armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus.

The Left-controlled JNU Students'' Union and the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) blamed each other for the incident in which at least 35 people, including JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, were injured.