JNU student leader Aishe Ghosh was injured in Sunday's mob violence at the university
Faced with accusations of vandalism and violence, JNU students' union leader Aishe Ghosh, who was badly wounded in last week's brutal attack on students and staff, delivered a powerful and emotional riposte, challenging Delhi Police to prove their allegations in a court of law. "I was not the one in a mask... I am the one who was affected. I still have my blood-soaked clothes," Ms Ghosh told reporters today, minutes after the cops named several individuals, including Ms Ghosh, whom they suspected of violence on Sunday.
The police displayed a series of photographs - some of which did not seem to clearly identify the suspects - as proof but gave few details about the mob itself.
"I have complete faith in law and order ... we have done no injustice. Let Delhi Police release our footage... we do not become suspects like this. None of our office-bearers have done any wrong," Ms Ghosh said.
Focusing on clashes that took place early on January 5, before the mob attack, the cops named Aishe Ghosh and eight others as suspects. Of those named while Ms Ghosh is the President of the Left-controlled students union, Yogendra Bhardwaj and Vikas Patel are reportedly members of the ABVP (the BJP-linked Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad).
The two factions have accused each other of the mob attack.
Aishe Ghosh, the JNU students' union leader, was badly wounded in the mob attack
Among those injured in the attack was Ms Ghosh, who was taken to hospital while bleeding from a head injury.
Around that time Delhi Police named her in two FIRs, filed in quick succession, alleging she was part of the group that vandalised the university's computer server room on two occasions - once the preceding day and once on the morning of the attack.
According to the cops, Ms Ghosh and other members of Left-backed groups attacked the room - while wearing masks - to stop online registrations and enforce a strike against hostel fee hikes.
However, the police have also admitted to difficulties in identifying those responsible for the attacks on campus because of sparse CCTV coverage and the lack of witnesses.
Ms Ghosh, who has repeatedly stressed that the JNU students had protested and would continue to protest in peaceful and democratic ways, has alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah, under whose ministry Delhi Police rolls up, had directed cops.
The worst violence is believed to have erupted at Sabarmati hostel
"It is the Home Minister who directed Delhi Police not to act... they waited for hours not to come inside and the Vice Chancellor facilitated this entire exercise. He was acting like an ABVP agent," Ms Ghosh said.
Late in the evening of January 5 around 70 to 100 masked goons, carrying iron rods and sledgehammers, barged onto the campus of the Jawaharlal Nehru University in southwest Delhi, and went on an unchecked three-hour rampage that left 34 people injured.
Delhi Police was heavily criticised for their conduct during the attack, with many alleging the cops simply stood by and did nothing while the worst of the violence was carried out.
"The police had been in the campus since afternoon, but they did nothing," Saket Moon, the Vice President of the JNU Students Union, said in the aftermath of the attack