New Delhi: "I can certainly tell you that when I studied in JNU, we did not see any 'tukde tukde' gang there," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday when asked about the situation in the premier university.
After the violence in Jawaharlal Nehru University campus on Sunday, Jaishankar, a JNU alumnus, had swiftly condemned the incident, saying it is completely against the tradition and culture of the university.
"Tukde-Tukde" is a term often used by the right-wing parties to attack the opposition, particularly Left and Left-backed outfits as well as those who support them. At a book release event, Jaishankar also said that unlike China, India allowed issues like Article 370, Ayodhya and GST to fester for a long time.
On Sunday, a mob of masked young people stormed the JNU campus in south Delhi and systematically targeted students in three hostels, unleashing mayhem with sticks, stones and iron rods, hitting inmates and breaking windows, furniture and personal belongings. They also attacked a women's hostel.
As horrific first-person accounts emerged of the attack, including on JNU students union president Aishe Ghosh, Delhi Police said no arrests have been made and that they have transferred the case to the Crime Branch, who claimed to have found "vital clues."
Large protests took place Monday in universities in Pondicherry to Chandigarh and Aligarh to Kolkata. Protests were also held at the National Law University in Bangalore and IIT-Bombay as well as at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. "Today it is them, tomorrow it can be us," Raiza, a Pondicherry university student, said.
In Mumbai, the protest by students at the Gateway of India that started at midnight continued. In New Delhi, the youth wing of the Congress Party took out a torchlight march through central New Delhi.
In Nepal, JNU alumni gathered at Maitighar Mandala in Kathmandu to voice their protest, as did students at Oxford University and University of Sussex in Britain and at Columbia University in the US.
Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati also condemned the violence. While Yadav said masked men attacking teachers and students in JNU shows how "low" the government will stoop to rule through "fear" and accused the BJP of using violence and hate to polarise society, Mayawati termed the mob attack shameful and demanded a judicial probe.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said JNU students were subjected to a "cowardly and planned attack".
Bollywood spoke up too. "Horrifying", "heartbreaking" and "barbaric" is how many in the film industry, including actors-filmmakers Anil Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Rajkummar Rao, Anurag Kashyap and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, described the attack. The JNU campus was a battle zone with the shattered windowpanes and the shards of glass mute testimonies of the violence the night before.
(With PTI inputs)
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