Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan met Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union President Aishe Ghosh in New Delhi on Saturday, NDTV reported. Ghosh was one of the 34 students and teachers injured in a mob attack on the campus on January 5.
Vijayan told Ghosh that the entire country was with JNU students in their “fight for justice”. “Everyone knows about your protest and also about what has happened to you in the fight for justice,” he told her.
After the meeting, Ghosh vowed to take the fight ahead. “Comrade Pinarayi has said go ahead, and that is the inspiration I take and we will take this fight ahead,” she said. “Whether it is the fight for rolling back the fee hike or against the Citizenship Amendment Act, I would like to thank, again and again, the people of Kerala who stood by us during all these attacks.”
In a Facebook post after meeting Ghosh, Vijayan praised her. He said the Sangh Parivar had been hoping to overcome the dissent in the college by using muscle power, but the college “has put up an uncompromising fight”. “Aishe Ghosh has been leading this battle with her injured head.”
The Delhi Police on Friday claimed they had identified nine students who took part in the violence at the college, and named Ghosh as one of them. Seven of these people were from the Left-backed All India Students Association and two were from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, they added.
On January 5, the Delhi Police had filed two FIRs against Ghosh and several others based on events that had taken place between January 1 and 4. The JNU administration had filed a complaint with the police after the college’s servers were shut down. The FIRs were registered while the mob attack was underway at JNU.
News channel India Today on Friday identified one of the assailants as being a member of the ABVP. In clips recorded by the news channel’s “Special Investigation Team” on hidden cameras, ABVP member Akshat Awasthi, a first-year student of the French degree programme at the university, identified himself as one of the attackers. He claimed to have mobilised people from outside the college, and the police had cooperated with the attackers. Awasthi said the attack was revenge against the Left for allegedly attacking the Periyar hostel on the morning of January 5.
However, the sting also showed former JNU Students’ Union president and Left activist Geeta Kumari admitting that she was part of an attack on the server room on January 4. She said the servers were shut down because the vice chancellor did not met students to address their demands.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!