Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has sought registration of an FIR after some students allegedly raised “provocative” and “inflammatory” slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during an event held on the campus on Monday night, university officials said.
In a letter to the Delhi Police, the JNU administration stated that certain students raised “highly objectionable, provocative and inflammatory” slogans, which it claimed amounted to contempt of the Supreme Court and violated the university’s Code of Conduct.
The letter, addressed to the Station House Officer of Vasant Kunj (North), said the programme titled “A Night of Resistance with Guerrilla Dhaba” was organised around 10 pm by students associated with the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU). Initially, the gathering, attended by around 30 to 35 students, was meant to commemorate the January 5, 2020 campus violence.
According to the university, the nature of the event changed following a recent judicial verdict on the bail pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, after which some participants allegedly raised slogans that were termed objectionable and inflammatory by the administration. A purported video of the incident has also surfaced on social media.
The administration said the slogans were “deliberate” and “repeated” and had the potential to seriously disrupt public order, campus harmony and security. Several students, including current JNUSU president Aditi Mishra, have been named in the letter as having been identified during the programme. Security personnel were present at the venue and monitored the situation, it added.
The university’s chief security officer has requested the police to register an FIR under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Senior university officials said the JNU administration held a meeting on Tuesday and decided to initiate corrective action. An internal inquiry is being set up, and disciplinary action will be taken if students are found guilty of violating rules and regulations. An advisory is also expected to be issued.
Students, meanwhile, said that protests are held every year to condemn the violence of January 5, 2020, when masked attackers stormed the campus and targeted students in several hostels. During that incident, at least 28 people, including the then JNUSU president, were injured as violence continued for nearly two hours.
