JNU violence: Students injured in clashes over non-veg food, FIR filed against ABVP

On Monday, 11 April, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) a day after confrontations erupted amongst students at Jawaharlal Nehru University over non-vegetarian food provided in a dormitory mess on Ram Navami.

According to a statement made by the All India Students’ Association, members of the ABVP, a right-wing student organisation, allegedly “badly attacked and injured students” who had eaten meat in the Kaveri hostel mess (AISA). On Sunday evening, images from the institution surfaced showing students bleeding, with some purportedly requiring emergency hospitalisation.

The Delhi Police have filed an FIR under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint), and 509 (Punishment for wrongful restraint) against unknown ABVP students (Whoever, intends to insult the modesty of any woman) A probe is underway to gather evidence and identify the perpetrators under Sections 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) and 34 (Acts done by multiple persons in pursuit of a common objective).

Students from the JNU Students Union (JNUSU), SFI (Students Federation of India), DSF (Democratic Students’ Federation), and AISA filed the complaint early Monday morning.

Here’s what happened in JNU

The ABVP is being criticised by the JNU Students’ Association (JNUSU) for “pushing and attacking the mess committee to change the dinner menu and ban the regular non vegetarian dishes from it for all students.” The ABVP, on the other hand, has accused “leftists” of causing a commotion and interrupting a Ram Navami puja.

Students were also shown in videos getting into intense disputes, which necessitated the involvement of campus security.

ABVP hooligans stopped residents inside JNU from having non Veg food

ABVP also assaulted the mess secretary of the Hostel.

Unite against the hooliganism unleashed by ABVP inside campus premises.https://t.co/3MpRE9zXn4 pic.twitter.com/Fy3HU7qg8J

— Aishe (ঐশী) (@aishe_ghosh) April 10, 2022

At least three students were injured and bleeding, CPIML Politburo member Kavita Krishnan stated on Twitter, adding that the Vasant Vihar SHO was there but no arrests had been made.

The argument apparently erupted after ABVP members allegedly prevented Kaveri dormitory residents from eating non-vegetarian food for supper and beat the mess secretary over the matter.

Kawalpreet Kaur, a student leader, claimed that students protested the university’s implementation of a “ban” on non-vegetarian cuisine, resulting in violence.