JNU students' union chief Aishe Ghosh was injured in Sunday's mob attack.
Highlights
- JNU students' union chief Aishe Ghosh was injured in Sunday's mob attack
- She said there was "no intervention" though cops were informed
- At least 34 JNU students and teachers injured in attacked by masked mob
Jawaharlal Nehru students' union chief Aishe Ghosh, who was badly injured in Sunday's mob attack at her campus, today said that she had told police about "unknown people gathering at the campus" hours before the violence broke out, but there was "no intervention". The student leader also blamed Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar for the attack that injured 34 students and teachers last evening, demanding his resignation.
"At around 2:30 pm on Sunday, we had told police that we were not feeling safe because several unknown people had gathered at the campus. But there was no intervention," the JNU student leader told NDTV.
Later in the evening, members of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA) had gathered for a peaceful protest and minutes later violence broke out at the campus as masked men went on a rampage, she said. "We were attending a peaceful protest at the university on student fee hike, trying to resolve the issue. Minutes later, masked goons targeted us near the Sabarmati Hostel. I was attacked with iron rods," she said.
Soon after the mob attack at the campus, a video clip of Aishe Ghosh was widely circulated on social media where she is seen describing the assault with blood streaming down her face. "I have been brutally attacked by goons wearing masks. I have been bleeding. I was brutally beaten up," she is heard saying in the video which was also shared by industrialist Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.
"I had lost a lot of blood. Students called an ambulance to take me to a hospital," she said today. She was discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences this morning.
Aishe Ghosh, who was elected as the JNUSU president last year, said the students' body had been trying hard to resolve the fee hike issue. "The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Federation (JNUTF) had threatened us recently amid the ongoing protest against fee hike. We only wanted an amicable resolution," she said.
On Sunday, the JNU registrar had said that students protesting against fee hike had tried to disrupt winter semester registration process, blaming them for the chaos at university. The Left students and the ABVP, the student wing linked to the BJP, have accused each other of involvement in the violence.
Today, Vice Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar repeated the university's claims in a statement. "The origin of the present situation in JNU lies in some agitating students turning violent and obstructing the academic activities of a large number of non-protesting students," he said.
Aishe Ghosh, speaking to NDTV, today held Mr Kumar responsible for the Sunday's mob attack, demanding his resignation. "The Vice Chancellor should resign. The violence spread at the campus because of him. The Education Ministry should remove him," she said.