Two former students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), who were also members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at the time of the 9 February, 2016 incident on campus have alleged that the incident was “planned” by the ABVP.
At a press conference held in Delhi on Wednesday, 16 January, former Joint Secretary Pradeep Narwal and former Vice-President Jatin Goraiya said that the whole narrative was being built by the ABVP to divert attention from Rohith Vemula’s suicide.
They further said that the issue is politically motivated and has been formed to help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gain political mileage in the upcoming 2019 election.
Speaking to The Quint, Narwal also said that the videos that were circulated after the incident were doctored and if that is not the case then the charge sheet should also name ABVP members who were there at the time of the incident.
“We are saying that the videos are doctored, but if that is not the case and the investigating agencies are claiming that the videos are not doctored, then the charge sheet should also name the ABVP students.”Pradeep Narawal, Ex-ABVP Member
However, Jatin Goraiya alleged that the students who raised the “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans were ABVP students.
The duo also alleged that before the incident there were conversations on WhatsApp group of the outfit which focused on “blowing up the incident”.
“Since we were Dalits, we were asked to represent and defend the outfit before the media. We were pressurised by the ABVP, but we quit the outfit when we couldn’t agree with what they saying,” the duo said.
The duo also questioned the timing of the charge sheet and asked why was it filed a few months before the general election?
“This is just a charge sheet which may or may not even stand legal scrutiny, but we are here to talk about the narrative which is being formed before the elections at the behest of the BJP,” Narawal said.
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