Mallika Dureja
On Tuesday, there was a lot of chaos and violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). This was because the administration cut off electricity to the campus as a group of students gathered at the JNU students’ union office to watch a BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Authorities even shut down the internet to stop students from screening and watching the series, which had already been blocked from several platforms by the Centre.
Soon, the violence turned political when some people said that members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) threw stones at students who had come to watch the show. They said they were attacked while watching the documentary on their cell phones. The charges were denied by a student group with ties to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
WHAT UNIVERSITY SAID :
The university administration has not yet made a public statement about what the students have said. It had, however, told students on Monday not to go to the screening, saying that the students’ union had not asked for permission and that the event should be cancelled.
Under the condition that he or she not be named, a JNU administration official told the news agency PTI about the power cut: “There is a big problem with a power line at the university. We’re taking a look at it. The engineering department says the problem will be fixed as soon as possible.”
The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) said in a statement released earlier in the day on Tuesday that they have no plans to cause trouble by showing the documentary or movie. It also asked the administration to explain the rules that say permission must be asked for before any movie or documentary can be shown on university grounds.
Again, they're ready to ablaze JNU through BBC Documentary.
This is the naked abuse of rights. Remember these faces, whenever they say they're preaching peace through dialogue. #BBCDocumentary #JNU pic.twitter.com/QOcewqklte
— Vaibhav Singh (@v_singh97) January 24, 2023
What caused fights and stone-throwing?
When students showed up last night as planned to watch the controversial show, the electricity and internet were turned off to stop them.
This quickly turned into fights, with students from the student groups of the different political parties getting into a fight over the screening. Some people said that ABVP members threw stones, and others went to the Vasant Kunj police station to file a complaint against the “stone pelters.” People made signs against the administration of the university.
The student group for the Left, SFI, said that the JNUSU had asked for a screening of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question” on Tuesday, but the JNU administration shut it down right away. “While the documentary hasn’t been banned, it has been censored across the country by the Centre to protect their demi-god Narendra Modi, whose links to the Gujarat riots are clear in both the documentary and the victims’ accounts,” the SFI said.
Neeraj Kundan, the national president of the Congress’s NSUI, said, “Before the screening, the JNU administration cut all power sources and jammed the internet to stop students from watching the truth about communal history, the ruling party, and its warlord Modi.”
“During screening, the ABVP also began throwing stones. Even though they tried to stop them, hundreds of students watched the show on their own. Even though the ABVP is threatening violence and the administration is taking disciplinary action, the spirit of JNU and its politically responsible students is still high. The students once again won by standing up for the ideas of equality and secularism. It’s a warning to fascists on and off campus that their plans won’t work in JNU or the rest of the country,” he said.
Madhurima, who is the secretary of the JNU-All India Students Association (AISA), said, “Some students had seen ABVP members throwing stones and knew who they were.”
“Also, a teacher called and said that some thugs talking about weapons near the main gate while wearing masks,” she said.
“They (the JNU administration) cut off the power and internet,” said N. Sai Balaji, the national president of AISA, who was there. He said that students had put the documentary on their phones through an app so they could watch it and talk about it later.
Asrar Ahmed, who came to see the movie, said, “People started throwing rocks at us as we watched the documentary on our phones in peace. Since it was dark, no one could tell who they were.”
The ABVP has denied all of the accusations, saying that none of their members were there. “We didn’t go to the place, and no one from the group of students was there. “They are just using our names to get more attention,” Ambuj, who is in charge of media for the ABVP in Delhi, told PTI.
“The campus of the university has an air of fear. We tried to get students to move toward the gate, but the thugs were also there. So, we decided to march to the police station and ask for the power to be turned back on,” he said.
Also read: Oscars 2023: Big Day For Indian Cinema, With Three Nominations, Including RRR’s Naatu Naatu
WHAT THE POLICE SAY
The police said that no FIR has been filed yet. They said that the students at the university had filed a complaint and that they were looking into the claims.
WHAT THE CENTER SAYS
The Center told Twitter and YouTube on Saturday to stop letting people link to the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question.” The Ministry of External Affairs said that the documentary was “propaganda” that lacked objectivity and showed a colonial way of thinking.
The move by the government to stop people from seeing the documentary has been slammed by the opposition.
“India: The Modi Question,” a two-part BBC documentary, says it looked into some parts of the Gujarat riots in 2002, when Narendra Modi was the chief minister of the state. The movie hasn’t been shown in India yet.
