Image Courtesy: Indian Express | Amit Mehra
A rally – consisting of trucks, cars and motorcycles – demanding the speedy construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya entered the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Campus on December 5 morning.
According to a statement released by the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU), the rally “illegally entered JNU campus forcing themselves through Saraswatipuram gate breaching the security”. They were reportedly told by the security personnel that there was no prior permission for such rally organised by these outsiders on the campus who, “with saffron flags were vitiating the campus environment with communal slogans and were instigating an atmosphere of fear and violence”. The statement goes on to allege that “the security department has no knowhow about the incident about how, who, why and when did this security breach happened jeopardising 15,000 residents’ safety and security in campus.”
A video captured by the students inside the campus, reveals that the rally is part of the mobilisations for “Vishal Dharma Sabha”, to be held at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on December 9. The event is being organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to get the Ram temple built in Ayodhya as soon as possible.
How was a right-wing Hindutva rally demanding the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, allowed to pass through the campus in the first place?
Firstly, incompetency on the part of the security firm G4S (the agency that hires the security staff on contract) and the JNU security department in ensuring the safety of the residents of the campus, has been questioned by the JNUSU. And in this regard, they have demanded that the JNU administration “file a case against these intruders who intimidated and created an environment of fear in campus”, and that the JNU VC “take necessary action against both the G4S security agency which is mandated with JNU’s security and Chief Security Officer for such incompetent and irresponsible response towards the morning incident”.
Secondly, concerns about the complicity of the JNU Administration and the vice chancellor in this matter cannot be ignored, as no security report of the incident had been prepared, and the nearest police station Vasant Kunj North had also not been informed about the major security breach – at the time the statement of JNUSU was published (around 4 pm). The JNUSU expressed concerns “at how the JNU administration is in clear terms showing its political patronage to a particular political party and its political actions”.
It is widely known that the VC has time and again showed his allegiance and subservience to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Also, it is no secret that the administration has consistently saffronised the campus by appointing Hindutva ideologues as permanent or visiting faculty, protecting professor Atul Johri (close to the VC and the ruling dispensation) who was accused of sexual harassment by multiple female students, and appointing people close to the ruling dispensation to key administrative posts.
While permissions for events involving eminent journalists, social activists and farmers’ activists are flat-out denied by the administration. Permissions for events on “Urban Naxalism” and “Love Jihad” are readily given, and RSS ideologues are repeatedly hosted in the university’s Convention Centre.
